Star
by Koigokoro-Shin'on
Summary: Two years after the events of Yomi's disappearance, the Other World is threatened by the appearance of new and powerful forces. Will BRS be able to stop them? What does this mean for Mato Kuroi?
1. Two years later

[**A/N] The BRS fanfic has arrived! Tell me what you think of it! (Note: This takes place two years after the events of the OVA. As far as I know, I have no plans for any of the events of the anime occurring. Although Saya and Kagari will probably appear later. The only thing I am retaining from the anime is Yuu's personality).**

* * *

A cell phone ring pierced the night. The small blue phone lit up, illuminating a corner of her room. Its ringing grew more frequent as it was ignored.

The black haired girl made a groaning sound and rolled over, blue eyes reluctantly opening. Her arm blindly reached over towards her phone until her hands closed around the small object. She pulled it towards her and squinted at the readout, the light burning her eyes.

"What could Yomi want at this hour...?" she murmured to herself.

The lighted readout came into focus. ALARM V, 4:32. She did a double take. She only had the first alarm set for 7:15, when she got up for school. A noise came from the other room.

Something was not right. She pulled herself up and looked at the phone more carefully. She deactivated the alarm and the date appeared: April 15, 2015. Yawning, she pulled herself out of bed and put on a pair of sweatpants. There was a pinkish glow coming from her bedroom door. Wandering towards it, she pulled it open to see a pink V on the wall.

It took a few seconds to register what had happened. She jumped suddenly, then slammed her door. Her heart was racing. She whipped out her phone, then there was a sudden pain in her abdomen as the world blurred. She faintly saw Black Rock Shooter fighting an adversary she could not recognise, then passed out, slumping to the floor.

"Vulcan."

* * *

**BLACK ROCK SHOOTER I**  
**Two years later.**

Yomi awakened from her sleep as sunlight streamed through her window. She picked up her new phone to see that there were about 10 messages from Mato. She smiled at her name on the screen, then looked through them. At once, her smile fell.

All of the messages contained just one word: "Vulcan."

"Vulcan...?" she texted back, then started to set the phone down, when it buzzed again. Mato had sent the same message again. She bit her lip. "Mato, are you okay?" she replied.

"Vulcan."

Immediately worrying, she dialled her friend's number and frantically called her name.

"Yomi! What are you doing calling so early?" her voice sounded cheery. "We're still meeting Yuu at the train station, right? Are you sick?"

Yomi was taken aback. She had envisioned Mato to be in a nearly comatose state. "I got all these strange texts! Are you alright?"

"Hm? I don't know what you're talking about!" her voice came, "Honestly!"

Yomi accepted her answer. Mato rarely ever lied, especially not to Yomi. "I-I'll see you at school, bye!"

It had been two years since Yomi and Mato's visit to the Other World. Yomi hadn't been troubled by the memories save for the occasional nightmare. Yet, something didn't feel right. Something felt different.

She quickly threw on some clothes and grabbed a piece of toast that her mother was in the process of buttering. "Yomi!"

"Sorry, gotta run!" Yomi shoved the toast in her mouth and sprinted to the corner, nearly running into Mato, who also had toast hanging out of her mouth.

"Yomuh?" she said through the bread, then swallowed, "You're not one to be in a hurry!" she giggled, "In the four years I've known you, this has never happened!"

"Beh quieff," Yomi replied, attempting to prevent the toast from falling out of her mouth. Mato laughed and pulled Yomi towards the station. The sky was bright and sunny. It was close to summer vacation of their first year of high school.

Not much had really happened in those two years, Yomi reflected. Her father had gotten a permanent job in town, so no more moving around, but apart from that, not much. Yomi had grown another few inches, much to Mato's dismay, as she remained at around the same height as she was in junior high school, only growing another inch. Mato often gave her hard time about it.

They arrived at the station just in time to reach the train. Running to make it inside, they boarded the train without incident. That is, until Mato walked right into the doorway. The doors shut and hit her hard in the side before opening again and doing it twice more before Yomi pulled her inside.

"Mato, what did you do that for?" Yomi demanded. Mato stared blankly ahead without answering the question. The train started moving and a soft ringing sound echoed from outside. Mato was silent. "Mato...?"

Feeling a bit embarrassed by the looks they were getting from other passengers on the train, she gently shook Mato.

"Yomi!" she said, "Getting a bit close there, eh? Finally come to your senses?" she teased. Yomi blushed slightly, "Why did you do that?"

"Cuz you think I'm sexy," she stuck her tongue out.

"N-no not that!" Yomi said in a flustered tone, reddening, "The thing with the door!"

"What...what thing with the door...?" Mato gave her a funny look and raised an eyebrow, "You're trying to change the subject!" she giggled.

Yomi gave her a serious look and shook her head. "You stood in the door and it closed on you a few times..."

"Nu-uh!" Mato said, "Didn't I just sit down?" she asked the people near her. They nodded.

"B-but...!" Yomi protested. It was impossible! She saw it happen with her own eyes just moments ago! Am I going crazy? she thought. She sat down again while Mato stared at her for a minute or two before looking off into space like she usually did. A few stops later, Yuu got on.

"Yuuuuuu, Yomi's being weird!" Mato whined to the diminutive girl. Yuu had barely grown at all since Mato had befriended her in second year of junior high. Yomi had become more comfortable with Yuu over time and they were now good friends, although not as close to her as Mato was. She still felt occasional jealousy when they talked about basketball, but since her rescue had matured quite a bit and accepted Yuu as a friend.

Yuu sat next to Yomi and stuck her tongue out at Mato, "The only weird one is you, Mato," she teased. Mato pouted.

The train arrived at the station shortly afterwards, as their high school was a few stops before their old junior high. The three of them got off. Yomi watched Mato closely for any other weird behavior, but Mato just returned her stare. "Um, Yomi, why are you staring at me?"

"Hehe, is someone's _'little bird' _finally noticing her?" Yuu poked Mato.

"Shut up Yuu," she pouted, turning pink.

"'Little bird?'" Yomi asked. She hadn't heard that nickname before. She looked back and forth between her two friends, suspicious that they'd been keeping something from her.

"Oh it's Mato's nickname for you when she talks about how pr—" Yuu began with a smirk, but was cut off by Mato, "It's _Yuu's_ nickname for you when she teases me about you!"

Yomi blinked. Why would Yuu tease Mato about her? Did Yuu not like her after all this time? She shook her head. No, that was impossible.

"I only tease you because you deserve it!" she said, "You should just tell her—"

"_Yuuuuuu!_ Shut uuuuuuup!" Mato dropped back and covered her face, "G-go ahead I'll catch u-up!" Under her hands her face was bright red.

"Don't mean to intrude, but what are you talking about?" Yomi asked Yuu.

"Oh, Mato talks a lot about you so I tease her by saying she likes you. It's just a joke," she laughed, "Though she has been getting _embarrassed _lately~" she giggled, "Anyway, what happened on the train this morning?" she asked.

Yomi was taken aback. Mato talked that much about her? She turned pink, flattered, and replied, "She stood in the door of the train this morning and it closed on her. I had to pull her out. It looked like she did it on purpose too. I got some weird text messages this morning, too. But she's been denying doing either. I'm worried."

"Hm...maybe she's just out of it from basketball! Kohatchi-senpai worked her really hard yesterday! Didn't you see the bags under her eyes?" she pointed at Mato behind them, who was staring blankly ahead, indeed with prominent bags under her eyes.

"I guess..." Yomi said, biting her lip, "She's been spacey all morning." _Something wasn't right.  
_  
"See! Nothing to stress about! Now let's get to class!" she patted the taller girl on the back.

Yomi looked back at Mato, who looked near-collapsing at that point. "You go on ahead, I'll get Mato. She doesn't look very good..." Yuu nodded and went into the room. Yomi started towards Mato when out of nowhere a pink-haired girl with pigtails stood in front of Mato and pulled her into the room, roughly pushing Yomi out of the way. The girl was unfamiliar to Yomi and she felt a bit jealous and angry at her intervention. What right did _she _have to talk to and touch her best friend? She swallowed these feelings and followed them begrudgingly.

The girl left the classroom after helping Mato. Yomi gave her a quizzical look, then sat next to Mato. "Who was that?" she whispered.

"Ayame," she replied in a tired voice, "I think she's a transfer student..."

"Mato, are you alright? You look ill," Yomi asked with concern.

"Sick? Mato Kuroi never gets sick!" she declared, "I'm tougher than any disease! I'm—feeling dizzy..." her eyes rolled up in her head and her head hit the desk with a light thump.

Yomi suppressed a scream and went to her side, shaking her. Yuu stared at them, then raised her hand, "Sensei! Mato fainted!"

The teacher looked alarmed and sent Yomi out of the room to escort Mato to the infirmary. Yuu accompanied her to help support Mato, although the differences in height between Yomi and her made things a little difficult.

Mato came to about halfway to the infirmary. "What's going on?" she asked drowsily.

"You fainted!" Yuu replied, struggling to hold Mato up, "What's up with you, you're worrying your Yomi sick!"

"'Your?'" Yomi asked.

"Yuuuuuu!" Mato groaned, "Sorry Yomi."

Yuu gave her a smirk. "It's okay..." Yomi replied, "Let's just get you a place to rest." Mato nodded.

At the infirmary, Mato rested in one of the beds, completely exhausted.

* * *

_Black __Rock Shooter struggled against her bonds, unable to get free. Her body was riddled with bullets, and the wounds were bleeding terribly. Weakness filled her. Her eye flared up as she attempted to free herself once more, but there was nothing that broke those chains._

_Around her neck there was a collar. Mato's name seemed to be scratched into it. BRS didn't know its purpose, but she knew it wouldn't bode well for her counterpart._

_The sound of mocking laughter came from everywhere as her captor jeered at her. It made her angry, but there wasn't anything she could do at the moment to stop her. She finally stopped moving, too tired to struggle again._

* * *

**[A/N] I apologise for any formatting hiccups! ****FFN seems to be on a mission to destroy the spacing of my work! If you notice anything, let me know in a PM.**


	2. Train

**[A/N] Thank you for the positive reviews! Last we left our heroine, she was passed out in a desk. Meanwhile, a new enemy seems to have captured Black Rock Shooter. I'd like to give a shoutout to Ying Fa Xang for the support and also for the inspiration! Anyway, our story continues.**

* * *

The blonde-haired girl peeked around the corner as the three girls went past. The one in the middle seemed to be unconscious. This was not good at all. The girl in the middle (Mana...Mai...?) was key to her success.

Her eyes shifted over to the tallest of the three and she felt a blush heat her face. Yomi Takanashi. How elegant she looked! How cultured she was! It gave her butterflies just thinking about it.

The girl finally took a glance at the smallest girl. Some nobody from the junior varsity basketball team's administration. She crept away from the hallway.  
"Yomi! You will be mine!"

* * *

**BLACK**** ROCK SHOOTER II  
Train.**

Mato was to be sent home that day. Yomi and Yuu begged to escort her home; because of the incident that morning, it would be best that a close eye be kept on her. After much protest, they were able to take Mato home. The pair of them held her up as they went to the train station.

"...Thanks guys..." Mato whispered in a weak voice, "I'm sure I'll be better by tomorrow!" she gave her best smile to them.

"I hope so," Yomi replied quietly.

"You worry too much Yomi!" Mato gave her an indignant look and waggled a finger at her, "Don't you know who I am? I'm Mato Kuroi! I'm Black Rock Shoot—" she stopped after Yuu gave her a funny look.

"What's that?" Yuu asked, her eyes widening.

"N-nothing!" she mumbled, "I'm not feeling well! Let's just go home so I can sleep, okay?"

Yuu stared for a minute, then just shrugged, not pursuing the topic any further. Her phone buzzed. Pulling it out, she told Mato, "Kohatchi's pissed at you for getting sick, Ace. I'd read it out loud but there are a few kids around..."

"Ugh, Kohatchi's only gotten more brutal over time!" Mato groaned, "Tell her I'm sick because she ran me ragged this week!"

"I know, remember last week—"

Yomi stopped paying attention to them, lost in her own thoughts. Normally, she would have been bothered by her exclusion from the conversation, but today she had important things to think about. Why was Mato acting so oddly today? Was it because of her illness? Was she going to be alright on her own? Yomi worried she would try to hurt herself again.

She thought of the Ayame girl. She was glad that she helped Mato, but didn't like the idea of her too much. She could handle sharing Mato with Yuu, but something about that girl felt off. She also didn't appreciate the shove she'd received. Her arm still was a bit sore from that push.

They boarded the train without any incident similar to that morning's, and Mato quickly fell asleep on Yomi. The taller girl smiled at the sight and pulled her closer to keep her from sliding off the seat. For some reason, Yuu had a very smug look on her face. Yomi thought back to that morning. What was this "little bird" business that Yuu was talking about? Did they really talk about her like that? She stiffened as Mato clung to her arm. Her face flared up and she felt like everybody on the train was staring at her. The rest of the train ride was silent, only interrupted by Yuu making a comment on the hot weather. Eventually they reached their stop. Yomi shook Mato to rouse her, but her eyes remained closed. "Mato?" Yomi murmured, shaking a bit harder. Mato didn't even stir.

"HEY ACE, WAKE UP!" Yuu shouted. Still no response.

The doors shut. "Shit!" Yuu swore, earning her a dirty look from a woman with her daughter across the car, "Wake her up, Yomi!"

"I'm trying!" Yomi was shaking her rather roughly, but Mato remained asleep.

"Don't you have any water we can splash on her?" Yuu asked.

Yomi shook her head. The train began to move forwards. "This isn't good," Yuu said,

"Your stop is the last stop for a while! The next stop is at the outskirts of town, by the old shrine!"

"We'll just catch the next train," Yomi said calmly, "Mato?" No response.

Mato's mind was someplace else entirely.

* * *

_The collar around her neck gave her an electric shock. A strong one, at that. Black Rock Shooter squirmed in discomfort and pain, her chains still proving to be unbreakable. Her captor's voice floated out of the dark, "Run away!" it shouted, and the chains loosened._

_BRS struggled once more, bursting her bonds, though still unable to remove the collar, and began to sprint away from that place, her arms and legs covered in chafe marks from her chains. A rain of bullets struck her from the side, felling her. An agonising pain spread from her sides as blood poured out of her. In the dark, there was more laughter._

* * *

They arrived at the next stop, indeed far from anywhere Yomi knew. The doors opened and a faint ringing could be heard. Mato's eyes suddenly shot open and she sprinted out the train door.

"M-Mato!" Yomi shouted, her eyes wide with panic. Yuu stared at her with an equally frantic look. They dashed out the door to see Mato in the distance, already far from the platform and moving into an old stone plaza. Surrounding the platform there were bamboo trees. There didn't seem to be much put there but stone walkways and walls.

"Mato!" the two girls called, but she didn't stop running. Mato eventually ran out of sight as the other girls stopped, panting.

"I...hate...running..." Yomi coughed, "Where...did...she go?"

"I didn't see!" Yuu squeaked, "They don't call her Ace for nothing...she'll tire out quickly...she's sick..."

Both girls sucked in air for a few minutes before plodding in the direction Mato ran in, too tired to run more. It was getting close to midday, 11:07, according to Yomi's phone, and the sun beat down on them, the summer heat taking its toll on them.

"I've never been here before," Yomi said, looking at the mossy walls. There were a few small trees growing in beds in the plaza, but they looked a bit worse for the wear, withered from the sun.

"Same here," Yuu remarked, "My parents used to come here...before the...addictions..." A frown crossed her face.

Yomi gave the small girl a sympathetic look. Yuu had been living with a foster family for the last year. "We can go here together if you want," Yomi told her.

Yuu shook her head, "No, it's okay! Let's just find our Ace! Kohatchi will kill me if she finds out we lost Mato!"

Yomi was surprised at her sudden change in mood, "Yuu..."

"No, don't worry about it! The Tanaguchi family is great. Let's just focus on Mato, please...!" Yuu gave her a pleading look to drop it.

Yomi frowned, "Um, yeah! I don't want anything bad to happen to her!"

After a good twenty minutes of searching, Mato was nowhere to be found.

"I have no idea where the heck she could've gone!" Yuu said, exasperated.

Yomi felt panicked herself, "Mato! Where are you?" she called out. Something caught the corner of her eye. A small crowd seemed to have formed a circle. Yomi walked away from Yuu to investigate.

There, in the circle's centre, was Mato lying facedown.

"Mato!" Yomi shouted, pushing her way to the unconscious girl and grabbing her, "Mato, wake up!"

* * *

_Black Rock Shooter lay facedown on the checkerboard ground, struggling to breathe. Her sides were sticky with blood and painful to move. Her captor seemed to have stopped pursuing her. She gingerly picked herself up and stumbled across the checkerboard plains, looking for aid from anybody, anything._

* * *

Yomi dragged the girl over to Yuu, who gasped. Mato was deathly pale and her breathing was laboured. "Should we call an ambulance?" Yomi asked.

"It'd take forever for one to get here," Yuu said, "Let's just get her home." They brought her back to the train station, where another train happened to be boarding. They sat Mato down between the two of them and each grabbed an arm to prevent any more escapes.  
The ride was silent. When they reached the stop, Mato awakened gently. Exchanging apprehensive looks, Yomi and Yuu pulled her out of the train and out into the station.

"Oh great, almost home!" Mato finally said cheerfully, "Ow, Yomi! You're gripping me really tight! Hello?"

Yomi didn't respond, although she felt an overwhelming urge to explode at Mato. Yuu stopped short for a moment with a blank expression on her face, then kept moving.  
"What's the matter? Am I too heavy?" a panicked look crossed Mato's face.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING BACK THERE? YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN HURT OR LOST! I WAS WORRIED SICK! WE THOUGHT WE'D COMPLETELY LOST YOU!" Yomi thundered. Yuu and Mato looked taken aback; neither of them had ever seen Yomi this angry before.

"W-what...what are you talking about Yomi?" Mato asked, sounding close to tears, "Y-you aren't making sense."

"YOU TELL HER, YUU!" she growled.

Yuu gave her the same look Mato was giving her, "What are you talking about, Yomi?" she asked, "It's not Mato's fault she fainted at school!"

"Yuu! I'm serious!" Yomi retorted.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Yuu said, raising an eyebrow, "Are you feeling okay, Yomi?"

"You don't remember Mato running off the train at the shrine and having to find her?"

Yuu shook her head. "The shrine is after this stop, Yomi, we couldn't have even stopped there."

Mato gave Yomi a worried look.

"But...but...! I...! She...!" Yomi stammered. It was impossible! How could Yuu and Mato not remember that? Trying to convince herself she wasn't crazy, Yomi asked, "Then why is it so late in the day?"

"It isn't..." Yuu said, showing Yomi her phone. 10:02.

Yomi stared at it, her mouth open slightly. How did she lose an entire hour of her day? "How...?" she breathed, pulling her own phone out. The same time displayed on hers. "I...I don't understand," she stammered.

"You're probably mixed up from worrying about Mato," Yuu scolded, "Relax! She's safe with us!"

"Yomi...please don't worry. I'm gonna beat this!" Mato said.

Yomi could only stare in disbelief.

"Hehe, your 'little bird' is worried for you. How about I let her patch you up herself?" she shot Mato a wry grin.

"Yuu! You can be so dirty sometimes!" Mato retorted, "I-ignore her, Yomi!"

Yomi was silent, still trying to process what had happened. Or perhaps, what hadn't happened.

They brought Mato home and laid her down on the couch, putting a blanket over her. "Yuu...I'm going to go home...I don't feel too great either...I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Yomi told her, and without another word, left the Kuroi residence.

Yuu looked at Yomi's retreating back with worry. The story she had told leaving the train station was odd and as far as she could recall, wasn't true. "Yomi?" Mato called after the tall girl, but she was already gone. She frowned deeply. Yuu quickly picked up this change, "Don't worry, Mato, you probably just gave her your illness. I'm sure she'll forgive you for it!"

"W-why was she so angry...? What did I do wrong...?" she asked Yuu, looking at the floor. To this, Yuu had no answer. She only offered a shrug, "Period?" she offered.

"Don't know..." Mato said, "I don't like it when she's mad like that...I don't understand..." she began to cry, "What if she hates me now?"

"Hush, now. If she did she wouldn't be worried! Don't be silly! Just rest up! You need to get your strength back for the big game this weekend! Playoffs, remember?"

"Ughhhh..." Mato buried her head in the pillow.

* * *

**[A/N] I'm thinking of making this a daily thing, at least over vacation. It seems to take only a few hours to do each chapter. I'm already halfway through IV! Chapter III just needs a few edits to make flow a bit more with this chapter and the next one, then it should be up tomorrow evening, assuming all goes well with Chapter IV! 'Til next time!**


	3. Separations

**[A/N] Last we left our heroine, she was recovering under the care of Yuu. Meanwhile, Yomi questions her eyes and ears after yesterday's events. In the Otherworld, BRS is cut down by wicked gunfire. Finally, a stranger has their eyes on Yomi.**

* * *

_In the depths of the ruined cathedral, a voice emanated. The building was mostly collapsed upon itself. Still, the voice persisted._

_"Apprentice...you must hurt me...to heal me..."  
_

_It called this out like a mantra, but there was never any response. It had been calling out for two years now. It was hungry.  
_

_The voice called alone into the darkness, with no-one to hear it.  
_

* * *

**BLACK ****ROCK SHOOTER III  
Separations.**

"My name is Ayame Murasaki," she said to Yuu, "I noticed your friend wasn't feeling well yesterday, so I just wanted to make sure she was okay."

"She's fine now, thanks," Yomi said, not making eye contact.

Ayame brushed her pink hair out of her face, "Who are you guys, anyway? You look familiar." She pointed at Mato.

Mato and Yomi stared at her from across the cantine table. She had just sat herself at their table.

"Well? Don't you have names?"

"Yomi Takanashi."  
"Mato Kuroi."  
"Yuu Koutari."

"Nice," she looked more closely at Mato, "You're on the JV team, aren't you?"

"Yeah! I scored the winning bas—"

Ayame silenced her with her hand, causing Mato to frown. Yomi shot her a dirty look, but Ayame seemed to ignore it. "Koutari-san, you're the manager right?"

"Yeah! I make sure Mato stays in one piece!" she said with pride. Ayame smiled.

"I used to manage the team at my old high school. With my help, we only lost once. Unfortunately, that loss was in the playoffs. I'm still mad at myself for it." She laughed. "You, Kuroi-san and I should hang out after school." Her smile looked haughty as she pushed more hair from her face.

Yomi glared at her, though the others didn't notice. "That sounds great!" Mato said, "I'll show you my moves!"

Yuu looked at Yomi and whispered, "Shh, don't be jealous. She cares more about you than anyone!" Yomi turned pink and nodded. "I'm sure she'll make it up to you!"

Just then, a blonde girl with a side ponytail flounced over to the table, "Ayame-channn, you just left us! Oh! Who are they? Wait! Mato Kuroi! Star of the basketball team! It's a pleasure!" She shook her hand vigorously, while Yomi watched with a sour look on her face. Yuu nudged her gently, but Yomi just frowned more heavily.

"And you're Yuu Koutari! And oh, you're pretty aren't you?" she told Yomi. Yomi blushed and thanked her. "I love your eyes! And your skin, really nice!" Yomi turned redder. Over the girl's shoulder, Mato was being restrained by Yuu.

"Mato, shh!" Yuu hissed. "I'm sure Yomi—"

The blonde looked over at them. Yuu released Mato quickly and took an avid interest in the surface of the table. "Um, right, I think Mato and I should hang out!" she said, "Seeing as how I seemed to have upset her."

"Um, okay," Mato said, but not today!" The girl looked a bit annoyed but nodded to her.

"Yomi is going home alone today! Maybe you two can spend some time together!" Yuu piped up. Mato kicked her under the table, to which Yuu responded with a kick back.

"Oh, that sounds great!" the girl said, "The name's Kagari Izuriha. I'll see you later," she left them and sat down on the other side of the room. Ayame followed.

Neither Yomi nor Mato looked especially happy. Yuu gave them both a stern look, "Now come on, both of you are going to make good friends! Don't look so pouty! Especially you, Mato! Why do you care if she complimented Yomi anyway?" she smirked at Mato briefly.

"You know why," she muttered under her breath.

* * *

_BRS lay on the ground, too weak to stand up. A rolling sound echoed across the stone floor. Something was coming. Something powerful. She wondered if it was going to finish her off. Her sides itched as her wounds slowly healed. The ground rumbled.  
_

* * *

Yomi walked to the station that day with Kagari following close behind, asking various questions about her likes and dislikes. Yomi answered them with short sentences, still feeling in a bad mood about Yuu and Mato not being with her.

"Hey, Yomi-chan? What's on your mind?" she asked, "You seem unhappy. Don't you like spending time together?"

"I miss Mato and Yuu," she grunted. Kagari frowned, "I'm sure I can be just as much fun as them!" Yomi ignored her.

"Do you have any crushes?" Kagari's voice came. Yomi blushed and thought.

"No, don't thin—" An image of Mato popped into her head, causing her to flush, "Nope," she said, wondering why she'd thought of Mato. She brushed the thoughts away and glanced at Kagari, who smiled at her.

"Let's just head over to your house, okay? Show me the way!" she got on Yomi's usual train. Yomi realised the girl had essentially invited herself to Yomi's house. However, if Yuu and Mato were going to be with Ayame a lot, she decided she'd need all the friends she could get.

* * *

"Nice one, Kuroi-san!" Ayame called out as Mato made yet another three-pointer. "Keep it up!"

"Thanks!" she called from the court, only to be rebuked by Kohata.

"Focus, Kuroi-kun! We have a title to win!" Mato nodded and made a layup after dodging two teammates with ease. Yuu gave Ayame a wide grin and a thumbs up, which Ayame returned. "If she keeps pushing like that, we can win!" Ayame said excitedly.

"Dammit!" Mato tangled her legs up with another player's and slid a few feet on the wooden floor.

"That's my cue," Yuu said, rolling her eyes and grabbing some bandages. She quickly patched up a nasty scrape on Mato's right calve. "Mato, do me a favour and go one practice without gouging yourself open." Yuu gestured to a series of several band-aids and bandages on Mato's arms and legs.

"I can't help it, Yuu!" she stuck her tongue out.

"Well I'm sure your 'little bird' is worrying about you!" Yuu teased, then tore towards the stands as Mato chased her, hiding behind a nonplussed Ayame.

Time passed as Mato showed off to Ayame more, though most of the team had already gone home. Ayane seemed to be enthralled by Mato's skill. It was getting late, and Mato checked her phone to see that it was getting close to seven. She quickly called Yomi.

"Yomi?" she asked.

"Oh, Mato, this isn't a great time. Kagari and I are watching a movie. So sorry! I'll text you later! Bye!"

A click sounded and the call disconnected. Mato slowly lowered her phone to her side, frowning. Yuu rushed over.

"Mato? Are you oka—" Yuu was cut off by Ayame.

"Well I'm off. Let's win this thing! No holding back! See you around!" She left the gym. Yuu shrugged and continued.

"Mato? What's wrong? Sick again?" she placed a hand on her friend's shoulder.

Mato stared at the phone in her hand, unbelieving she'd been snubbed for Kagari. She felt a small bit of anger towards Yomi for blowing her off, but let it go. Yomi was just making friends, right? She told herself this, but the compliments she'd given her in the cantine made Mato uneasy.

"Mato! Kagari isn't going to try something on Yomi! Relax! Honestly, it'd be a hell of a lot easier if you just told her how you feel." Yuu told her, "You and she are too possessive of each other."

Mato nodded slowly in reluctant agreement. "I don't know what to do..." She bit her lip.

"Tell Yomi that you lo—" Yuu began, as Mato clapped a hand over her mouth, "Shut up! Do you want everyone to hear?" she hissed.

Yuu gave her a look, "Do you really want me to answer that honestly?"

"Y-yuu!" she dragged her out of the gym into the locker room, "I told you to keep quiet! W-why won't you?"

"It's fun," she jabbed at her, "Besides, nobody would've heard, Mato."

"Ugh, why did I even tell you...?"

* * *

_Chariot rushed across the checkerboard on her wheels, thinking back to what she'd seen at the old cathedral. The entire place had barely been standing. She knew that what she sought was buried under the ruins, deep in its dungeon. That territory belonged to Black __Rock Shooter now. The only way she could get in was an alliance._

_Underworld Vulcan was hunting BRS. That much she knew. Perhaps by assisting her, her trust could be gained._

_The bloodied form of the fighter came into view in the distance._

* * *

Kagari and Yomi watched the credits of the movie roll, feeling satisfied. Kagari was actually quite funny and her commentary during the film made Yomi laugh. She was also a decent cook and showed Yomi how to make macaroons. Yomi felt happy she'd given Kagari a chance. It was a good distraction from Mato's absence.

"Oh, it's getting late," Kagari said, "I've gotta run! I have the other two parts at home, by the way. Let's do this tomorrow!"

Yomi nodded and smiled, "See you at school!" They waved goodbye and Kagari left.

"Is that a new friend, Yomi?" her mother asked.

"Yes. Her name's Kagari. She's pretty nice."

Her mother asked a few questions, then left Yomi to her own devices. Going up to her room, she pulled out her phone and texted Mato.

"Hey."  
"Hi," came the reply.  
"How was Ayame?"  
"Ok I guess. Bit stuck on winning"  
"Kagari was great! She's really nice!"  
"Thats good. Do u want 2 hang out tomorrow nite?"  
"Sorry! I'm having Kagari over again. Maybe another time."

There was no reply. Yomi watched the clock on her phone apprehensively, as the minute ticked by. Finally, after about fifteen minutes of silence, Yomi texted, "Are you okay? You've been spacey lately. And you've been arguing with Yuu a lot. Did you two have a fight or something?"

There was still no answer. Yomi bit her lip and tried to call. The call went straight to voicemail, "Good morning, day, or evening! This is Mato! Leave a message and your name after the sound! No prank calls, Hiro!" A beep sounded.

"Mato, are you okay? I'm worried. Call back. Yomi."

* * *

Kagari smiled to herself as she got ready for bed. Things had been going better than expected. Yomi warmed up to her faster than she thought. Still, she was very much in the dark about what Yomi liked and was grasping in the dark.

However, Kuroi could fill in the blanks for her. The only issue was that it seemed like she didn't like Kagari too much.

She let her hair down in a messy golden cascade. Much more comfortable. She needed to find out what Kuroi did with Yomi and do it better. Then Yomi was hers.

* * *

**[A/N] Sorry if this one was a little boring! The next chapter reaches an exciting climax at the big playoff game. Events transpire there that change Mato and Yomi's friendship drastically, if you catch my drift. Chapter IV is already finished, but looks like you'll have to wait 'til tomorrow to find out what happens. Until then, I'll be writing Chapter V. See you tomorrow!**


	4. Vulcan

**[A/N] Last we left our heroine, she was showing Ayame her best basketball moves, to the latter's great excitement. Meanwhile, Black Rock Shooter lies wounded in the Otherworld, bullets ripping her sides open and a mysterious collar around her neck. Finally, Kagari and Yomi seem to have really hit it off, haven't they? Language warning.  
**

**Oh and I suppose I forgot the bleeding disclaimer. I don't own Black Rock Shooter or any related characters. They are the intellectual property of Fuke Ryohei (huke). This applies to all preceding and all future installments of _Star_.  
**

* * *

_The white-haired girl pulled her hood up. Black __Rock Shooter had to be protected at all costs. While Strength didn't like to take sides, she knew that the world was best protected by BRS. She jumped from the mountain._

**BLACK ****ROCK SHOOTER IV  
Vulcan.  
**  
Mato wasn't at the corner that morning. Yomi frowned and sent her a text. The reply came, "I feel awful TnT Damn illness came back! I keep throwing up and my sides hurt. See you tomorrow ;; -Mato x"

Yomi replied to remind her to stay in bed and rest, then walked to the station. She took her place on the train, getting a few looks from other girls nearby. Yomi wondered why, but upon reflection, Mato had never missed a day of school as long as Yomi had known her.

"Where's Kuroi-san?" asked one of them.

"Sick," Yomi replied.

"Sick? The playoff game is tomorrow! She's our best player! She can't be sick!"

Yomi shrugged at them as Yuu sat down next to her, her face grim. "We are screwed." She told all of them flatly, "Mato came down with something awful."

A few gasps came from the crowd of girls. Yomi frowned, "I heard she was puking," she told Yuu.

"I was over at her place last night," Yuu said, "She fainted again and she threw up once I woke her up. She was upset about something too, though she wouldn't tell me what." She sighed and shook her head, then looked at Yomi, "Hey, Yomi, do you have a crush on anyone...?"

Yomi was taken aback, "Um...no..." she answered. It was the second time she'd been asked that in twenty-four hours. Why had Yuu and Kagari asked her that?  
Yuu slipped out her phone and texted something to Mato. Yomi asked, "Um, why are you texting Mato...?" Yomi asked.

"Uh..." Yuu stared off into space, then shrugged, "Mato asked me to ask you that question, in all honesty..."

"Why...?"

Yuu shrugged. Yomi gave her a suspicious look. The rest of the train ride was silent.

* * *

_The girl in the maid outfit smirked at Strength, holding up her enormous weapon and pushing some hair from her magenta eyes. "I know what you want, and BRS is my quarry. Don't get in my way or you'll be as full of lead as she is."_

_"She's the world's only protection from beings like Dead Master. She killed Dead Master, and I'm sure she could protect this world. If you kill her—" Strength began, advancing towards her._

_"Kill her? Ha! You're so naïve, Strength. I'm trying to kill Dead Master. She's not as dead as advertised. Stay out of my way."_

_Strength's eyes widened. Dead Master hadn't been slain? How? And how would harming Black Rock Shooter kill Dead Master?_

_"I can see you don't understand. I haven't got time to explain. Chariot's getting too close to her for comfort. Good day."_

_Strength barred her path. "I can't let you weaken BRS."_

_"Very well then! Have at me! BE A HERO!" she pointed an enormous gun at Strength, pulling the trigger._

* * *

The white ball bounced off Yomi's head. "Ow..." she murmured, rubbing her head.  
"Takanashi-san! Get focused! Spike that ball back!" Yomi nodded and missed the next volley as well. A whistle blew. "You're coming out!"

Yomi unhappily sat on the bench, where Kagari joined her.

"What is it, Yomi? We're still on for this evening, right?" she gently grabbed Yomi's arm. Yomi, though surprised, didn't bother pulling her arm away.

"I've been worried about Mato..." Yomi said. Kagari's grip tightened a bit and she frowned. "I'm sure she's fine. Her sickness will blow over!"

Yomi looked at the floor, "I guess..." She thought about the weird occurrences two days earlier. Mato seemed to be horribly ill, although yesterday she was fine. Yomi remembered that she was the only one that noticed Mato's strange behaviour. Yet, when Yomi wasn't there, Mato was fine. She began to panic that Mato's illness was her fault.

Suddenly, the gymnasium doors burst open and a girl plodded onto the court. Mato. She was followed by Ayame. Yomi stared, dumbstruck. She left Kagari on the bench and ran over.

Mato was paler than usual, and her eyes had dark circles under them. There was a dullness in them as well. Her hair wasn't tied up at all; instead it was a complete and total mess. Yuu rushed over.

"Mato, what do you think you're doing?" she demanded, "Get back home and in bed, where you belong!"

Mato shook her head, "I've gotta do this, Yuu. For the team."

"Mato, no—"

"Mato here thinks she's well enough to play," Ayame said, "So let's let her play! Besides, she can't just walk out on her team! We need to win. I watched her play. With her, the title is ours."

"But Mato is sick! Look at her! She looks awful!" Yuu gestured to her.

"Thanks, Yuu," Mato said flatly, "Can I have a ball now...?"

"That's the spirit!" Ayame clapped Mato on the back.

"Now look here—"

The argument quickly attracted Arata Kohata. "Mato! Good to see you here! Let's get started! Grab a ball, run laps! Now!" Mato did as she was told. Yuu and Yomi stared at Mato in disbelief. Her running was uneven and her breathing was loud.

"Go, Mato!" Ayame said, "Keep going! We have a title to win!" This continued for several drills while Yomi and Yuu could only watch their friend become steadily weaker as Kohata pushed her harder and Ayame encouraged her to try harder. Finally, after Mato tripped over herself trying to make a layup, Yuu stepped forward. "Enough! Stop it Mato! Go home and sleep!"

"Ignore her, Mato, you're doing great!" Ayame called, "Keep going!"

"No! Stop! Mato!" Yuu cut in, "You can't do this! Don't be a hero!"

The squeaking of sneakers sounded behind Yuu and Kohata roughly grabbed her shoulder, "What the blazes do you think you're doing?" she shouted, "As manager, you're supposed to support your teammates, not discourage them. Like what Ayame's doing," she jerked her thumb in her direction.

"But there's no way she could play like that!" Yomi blurted, "She's not even playing her best!" All three pairs of eyes turned to Yomi. As Yomi said this, Mato made a perfect three point shot.

"Seems to be her best to me," Ayame remarked.

"See? Your negativity isn't helping. Ayame is going to be our manager tomorrow, not you." Kohata gave Yuu an icy glare.

Yuu looked like she'd been punched in the face, and also very close to crying. Yomi pulled her away from the team. "That idiot doesn't know the first thing about injuries! Or when a player needs rest!" Yuu spat, squirming in Yomi's grip, "This is ridiculous! Mato looks close to death out there!" A string of obscene profanities fell from Yuu's lips, startling Yomi. Yuu almost never got angry, let alone cursed enough to make a sailor blush. Yomi managed to pacify her only after saying she'd try to talk Mato out of going to the game.

* * *

_Strength was blown away by the sudden barrage of bullets, crashing to the floor. She picked herself up quickly and charged at Vulcan only to be cut down by more shots. She pounded her enormous fists on the floor, shattering the ground beneath Vulcan's feet. She merely jumped over to a different spot and fired another round of shots._

_Riddled with bulletholes now, Strength pointed her arms at Vulcan and fired a series of missiles. The next round of shots destroyed all of them before they even reached their target. Vulcan gave her a smirk. This was far too easy. She fired one last round of shots, some of which Strength actually managed to deflect with her hands, but Vulcan was a good shot, and a few bullets still found their mark. Strength made a slight gasp as some of the bullets went through her this time, the steady loss of blood weakening her._

_Strength suddenly jumped in the air, much to Vulcan's surprise, and swooped down to try to smash her in the face. The pink-haired gunner was not thrown for too long. She fired an energy beam into the white-haired girl's body, throwing her like a rag doll several feet and into the stone tiles, creating a large spiderweb of cracks in the floor._

_Strength didn't get up again._

* * *

The first period had gone rather well. Mato's team was up by eight points, but in basketball, this was still a tenuous lead. Yomi sat in the bleachers next to a pouting Yuu, who occasionally muttered something undoubtedly unpleasant about Ayame under her breath. Yomi had unfortunately been unsuccessful in her attempts to talk Mato out of going.

Mato hadn't been put in yet, but Yomi could tell she wasn't well. She was leaning on Ayame, looking half asleep. Yomi felt another pang of jealousy watching Mato, but pushed it down. _I'm not a green-eyed monster anymore. She's just tired_, Yomi told herself.

The second period didn't go as well. The game became tied. Yomi saw Kohata whisper something to Ayame, and then Mato was put into the game. Yomi could tell something was wrong right away. She wasn't moving right. Her head seemed to move too much with each stride, and her motions didn't look fluid. She tried to make a shot but the ball was stolen. The other team promptly scored.

"C'mon, Mato! You're better than that! Keep going!" Ayame called. Mato weakly nodded.

"This is insane!" Yuu hissed, "Mato should be asleep right now!" Yomi nodded without taking her eyes off Mato. After a few minutes of play, Mato got the ball twice and scored both times, the latter being a three-pointer. They were now up by three. Mato looked slower with each minute, her energy rapidly depleting.

* * *

_"Get up and fight."_

_Black Rock Shooter did as she was told and rushed at Vulcan, her eye flaring up. She was quickly knocked back by several point-blank shots to the chest. Vulcan smirked at her. "I said, get up."_

_Black Rock Shooter jumped up and pointed her Rock Cannon at her mocking adversary, the weapon humming as it warmed up. Vulcan prepared to dodge the shot, her finger beginning to squeeze the trigger—_

_A shooting pain erupted in Vulcan's side. Black Rock Shooter held out a katana covered in fluorescent pink blood, slicing at Vulcan again. Wham! Vulcan swung the barrel of her weapon and it collided with the side of BRS's skull, making her vision blur. She fired a few shots at Vulcan._

_Vulcan screamed in pain as the bullets ripped through her sides._

* * *

During the third period, Mato improved. Her fatigue seemed to decrease, although she still looked rather ill. Ayame continued to push her. The score was pretty lopsided at that point, with Mato scoring a good seven baskets on her own. The opponent trailed by nineteen points. Yuu's mood brightened, but only slightly. The buzzer rang for the start of fourth quarter.

* * *

_Vulcan twitched in anger at the wounds she received, firing another round at Black Rock Shooter. To her dismay, BRS rolled out of the way and slashed at her again. She growled in anger and smashed her in the face with her weapon._

_Black Rock Shooter was covered in blood from the fight, much of it Vulcan's. She faked to the side, causing Vulcan to fire in the entirely wrong direction, then rushed in for the kill with her Black Blade at the ready._

* * *

Mato rushed towards the basket, her tiredness disappearing for the first time in days. She was going to make it.

* * *

_A powerful electric shock emanated from the collar around her neck. Her vision became fuzzy and there was a blue tint at the edges. She felt herself fall to the ground, but could barely see. The only thing she could feel anymore was pain as Vulcan's bullets tore through her.  
_

* * *

Mato fell, hitting the floor hard. The ball was lost from her grip and her hand was stepped on. She screamed in pain, tears rushing to her eyes. She waited for Yuu to come and patch her up, but nobody came.

"Get

* * *

_"up!" Vulcan_

* * *

shouted from the sidelines. Mato did as she was told, feeling in a kind of trance. Her chest and sides hurt for some reason and

* * *

_she was very weak. Each attempt she made to get up, Vulcan fired at her, forcing her to the ground. She could only see and taste blood._

_"You are nothing! You are my quarry! You are_

* * *

my star player!" Ayame cried, "Don't give up!"

Mato suddenly felt very weak. She got the ball, but her vision seemed to blur. "Sorry, Kohatchi..." She

* * *

_fell to the floor yet again as Vulcan's laughter filled her ears. She closed her_

* * *

eyes and lay there

* * *

_as a shock from the collar made her black out._

_"Finish_

* * *

"the job, Mato!" Ayame cried, "Get up!" The game was stopped. A small circle of referees was formed around the unconscious girl. Yomi rushed out of the bleachers and across the court. Everybody in the room was staring at her. Yuu quickly joined her at Mato's side.

"Get up, Mato! We have a game to play!" Ayame said, shaking her

"Are you insane?" Yuu shouted, "LOOK AT HER!"

"We need her—"

"Oh shut up!" Yuu slapped her across the face, "She's a person! A person that needs rest!" A nasty red mark appeared on Ayame's face.

"You want to start something, Yuu?" The two began to fight as Yuu punched Ayame in the mouth.

"...Mato..." Yomi put a hand on her chest. "She's not breathing!" Yuu and Ayame didn't seem to hear her. "Please Mato, no! Doesn't anyone know CPR?" Nobody seemed to hear her. Yomi felt helpless, tears falling.

"I know CPR." Yomi turned around to see Kagari

* * *

_behind her, holding a sword and shield. "Chariot," Vulcan spat, "Stay out of this! I need her to kill Dead Master!"_

_"I can't let you do that. I need Dead Master alive." She sliced at Vulcan, spilling copious amounts of blood from her chest. Vulcan fired back, but she deflected all the bullets with her massive shield, then swung the circular object at Vulcan, knocking her backwards. She offered a hand to Black Rock Shooter, pulling her_

* * *

towards her as she pounded on her chest and breathed into her mouth. "C'mon Mato..."

Kagari was knocked off of Mato by Ayame as she pushed Yuu away. Yomi quickly untangled them and begged Kagari to keep trying. Mato hadn't been breathing for a good thirty seconds. Kagari

* * *

_rolled back in front of her adversary, but this time was blasted off her wheels as a shot wrecked the casing of one. She held the shield over the rest of her body as more shots came._

_"Finish the job!" Vulcan shouted to_

* * *

Mato, opening her eyes and gasping. Her eyes were blankly staring ahead, but she was breathing normally and was alive. She pushed Kagari off of her and went to Yomi.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Yomi sobbed, attempting to hug her. Mato's arm shot out and grabbed her neck.

"Huh—" Yomi made a choking sound as Mato placed both her hands on her neck. She struggled and kicked at Mato, but her fingers just grew tighter and tighter. Her vision blurred as her lungs screamed for oxygen.

Ayame was

* * *

_hit from behind with a missile, knocking her to  
_

* * *

the floor as Yuu rushed to help Yomi, leaving

* * *

_Vulcan bleeding on the ground. Strength smashed at her again and and again and pulled  
_

* * *

Mato off Yomi, who was blue. She gasped for air and rubbed her neck, which had dark bruises wrapping around it. Yomi stared at Mato, who

* * *

_was picked up by Strength and set down away from the fight. Chariot rolled over to put her shield up in front of her._

_Vulcan was_

* * *

smashed to pieces by the sight of Mato choking Yomi. "What the FUCK was that?" Ayame shouted at Yuu.

"It's not her fault! She was oxygen-deprived and wasn't able to function correctly! She was probably delusional!" The referees stepped in and separated Yuu from Ayame.

Yuu grabbed Kohata. "This shit is why I manage the team. Mato is going to the hospital right now. Aren't you glad you picked Ayame over me?" She shot Ayame a contemptuous look and looked at Mato, now resting on the floor. Everybody in the stands was whispering to their friends. The game had been stopped a good ten minutes.

Kohata looked at the unconscious Mato and grabbed Ayame by the collar. "You stay the hell away from this team."

* * *

_Vulcan was dead. Strength stopped smashing her and went to check on Black Rock Shooter. Her wounds were slowly closing up, but she was still weak. There seemed to be some kind of collar that had fallen off her neck with the inscription "Mato Kuroi," on it. Strength's expression darkened. Vulcan had somehow learned how to touch the real world. She'd undoubtedly attempted to assassinate Dead Master's other self through Kuroi. This wasn't allowed._

_"Can I trust you?" Strength asked Chariot, "Will you keep her alive?"_

_Chariot nodded._

_"I'll see you again, perhaps," Strength said, and slowly walked off into the distance, disappearing._

* * *

**[A/N] So there's the end of the Vulcan/collar arc! What are Chariot's motives? What's going to happen to Yomi? Chapter V will be up tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll be working on Chapter VI! Until tomorrow! Also, thank you for all the positive reviews! They mean a lot.**

**What did you think of the style that the climax was written in? I think I will use it for other climaxes as well, depending on your feedback.  
**

**One last note. I _LOVE _it when my readers theorise. So get planting those epileptic trees and making those WMGs.  
**

* * *

Mato awakened in a hospital bed. She groaned in pain. "Wake up, sleepy head!" came a bright voice. Mato sat up and rubbed her eyes. Kagari sat at the end of her bed.

"Oh, it's you..." Mato mumbled. She looked around the room for signs of Yomi. The only person there was Kagari. There was a small box of chocolates on the table next to her. Excited, she grabbed it only to find it was from Hiro. She ate one with a bitter frown on her face. "What happened? Where's Yomi? Did we win?"

Kagari looked troubled, "You collapsed and stopped breathing for a minute."

Mato's eyes widened, "I...almost died?"

"Yomi...well...I don't think she wants to see you right now..." Kagari said, her face twitching, "You tried to strangle her upon waking up. She's in a different hospital room..."

Mato stared at Kagari, then looked at her hands in horror. They ached. Her stomach turned and she felt like her body was made of jelly. She'd tried to kill Yomi...? With her own hands...? Mato screamed and tears ran down her face. "I'd never d-do that! D-don't lie to me!" She looked intently into Kagari's eyes, praying she would tell her that it was all a lie.

"It's the truth. If I were you, I'd stay away from her for a while...in the meantime, I know that we got off to a rough start, so I'm going to be your nurse!"

Mato nodded dumbly, more tears flowing down her cheeks, "Th-thanks."

"You can also thank me for saving your life. I was the one that gave you CPR. Oh, and your team barely won." Kagari left the room, leaving Mato to break down alone. She wandered to Yomi's room.

Inside, Yomi was already in tears. Her neck was covered in purple blotches. Kagari grimaced. Mato had soiled Yomi's perfect skin. "Shh..." Kagari said, "It's okay, Yomi. Mato won't hurt you anymore. Just stay close to me." She pet Yomi's head, shushing her. "I'm going to be your nurse," she told Yomi with a sly grin, "I'll keep you safe from Mato."

Yomi nodded and gave Kagari a weak hug. "There there," she said, "I'll be back in the morning, okay? Get some rest."

She planted a gentle kiss on Yomi's head, causing Yomi to flush slightly. Kagari knew she'd be too broken up to protest, so she just smiled and left the room, humming quietly to herself.

"Things are going even better than I'd dreamed..." she murmured, "Dirty Mato soiled my perfect Yomi. I'll make her pay, somehow." She smirked to herself and looked back at Yomi. "_Mine_," she whispered.


	5. Envy

**[A/N] Last we left our heroine, she was in the hospital after nearly dying, and killing Yomi. Meanwhile, Kagari finds this attack on Yomi to be advantageous to her motives. In the Otherworld, Chariot and BRS are travelling to the old cathedral, where the battle of BRS took place. But for what purpose?**

* * *

_Thump._

_Thump._

_The automaton stomped through the desolate graveyard, surrounded by the shapes of black stone crosses. A green-blue fire crackled under its steel helmet. The ground cracked under its feet._

_"Halt." A woman's voice said. Out of the fog stepped a woman in all black, with piercing red eyes and a giant saw._

**BLACK ROCK SHOOTER V  
Envy.  
**  
It rained all day and then all night. Yomi was discharged from the hospital after two days of care. She left without visiting Mato's room.

Kagari was waiting for her at the door, embracing her. Yomi hugged her back, tears running down her face. The memory was still fresh, still painful.

_**"I'm so glad you're okay!"**_

**_The fingers closed around her neck, trying to crush her windpipe, stop her breathing, stop her pulse._**

"Yomi-chan?" Kagari's voice came, "You alright?"

Yomi was brought back to the present. "I don't know," she said truthfully, "Sorry, just spaced out."

"Shh, let's just go back to your house and watch the last part of the trilogy, okay? It'll take your mind off what happened."

Yomi nodded and followed Kagari out of the hospital, where her parents were pulled up next to the curb. The rain poured down in sheets, blurring the view from the windows. She got in the car, sopping wet. Taking a last look at the hospital, she wrung out her hair and folded her hands in her lap.

Kagari looked with concern at Yomi. The bruises on her neck were now dark grey splotches, looking tender to the touch. Her parents, to Kagari's surprise, were completely silent, not asking Yomi if she was okay or what had happened.

The ride was quiet, the only sounds being the pounding of the rain and the drone of the engine.

* * *

_The red-eyed girl hefted the saw, a red flame appearing in her eyes. She licked her lips and faced the automaton. A whispering voice emanated from its helmet, "Ready to be bested again, Black Gold Saw?"_

_"You wish, Geshumaru!" BGS charged with her saw._

* * *

Yuu returned to her home to find the smell of cookies greeting her at the door. School had been rough without Yomi or Mato there. She felt empty, lonely without her two best friends in the world. They were her escape.

"Welcome home, Yuu!" A tall girl with light brown hair that fell to her shoulders emerged from the kitchen.

"Hey." Yuu walked past her into the kitchen, grabbing a cookie from a plate on the counter. Her foster father was bent over a laptop at the kitchen table, squinting at a spreadsheet on the monitor. He was a man in his thirties, already with a touch of grey here and there. He wore a pair of rectangular eyeglasses, at the moment perched at the end of his nose. He looked up to greet Yuu.

"Hi, Yuu. How was school?"

"Okay," Yuu replied tonelessly.

"Are Mato and Yomi back in school yet?"

"No."

"Anything interesting happen?"

"No."

The man adjusted his glasses and scrutinised Yuu. He let out a sigh. "Go play with Haruka, I guess. She invited Sayu over again. They made these cookies for you. They're probably playing Smash Brothers whatever-it-is X in the den."

Yuu nodded and grabbed another cookie, then padded over to the television, where Sayu and Haruka were indeed playing the Wii. Yuu sat next to them wordlessly, not responding to Sayu's hello.

Sayu Irino was a pretty girl with long black hair that reached the middle of her back. She had reddish brown eyes and small beauty mark just above her lip. Instead of getting angry at her lack of response, she gave her a sympathetic frown and turned her attention back to the screen.

Haruka liked to use Bowser, while Sayu liked using Link. Haruka had the edge of being strong and heavy, while Sayu was nimble and quick. Nonetheless, Haruka won the majority of the matches. After Sayu was bested once again, she turned to Yuu and gave her a warm smile.

"Yuu, I'm tired of getting my butt kicked by your sister! Team up with me!" she held out a controller.

"No thanks." Yuu pushed it away.  
Sayu frowned. "You sure? I've seen you on your own! You're good!"

"Positive."

Sayu exchanged a look with Haruka and started a new battle. For as long as Yuu had lived with the Tanaguchis, she'd been very quiet. Haruka and Sayu were both a year older and went to a private school on the other side of town. The pair of them had always had a friendly rivalry, in regards to anything, from video games to sports to cooking. Yuu recalled many a day where Sayu and Haruka would cook something up and stuff Yuu full of it, then ask her to tell her whose was better.

Yuu eventually retired to her bedroom, finding another cookie on her nighttable. She knew that the Tanaguchis were trying, but the place still hadn't grown much on Yuu. She knew that in the end Haruka wasn't her sister and that Mr Tanaguchi wasn't her dad.

Munching on the cookie, she tried unsuccessfully to reach Yomi and Mato. Yomi sent a short text about being discharged and having Kagari over, and Mato didn't reply at all. Heart heavy, Yuu put the phone away and began to draw. She drew a picture of herself, then of Mato looking sad and Yomi with the bruises around her neck.

She was alone.

* * *

_The machine smashed Black Gold Saw in the face with the back of its hand, sending her flying. The automaton towered over her._

_BGS smashed through a few of the crosses, landing on the ground and cracking it. A raspy laugh came from the machine as it drew closer._

* * *

The next day it was still raining. Yomi walked past the corner and went straight to the station. She got on the train, frowning and trying to cover her neck. Her phone buzzed.

"Im sorry :'c" It was from Mato. Yomi stared at her phone, unsure of how to respond. She noticed a lot of the girls from the train were staring at her.

At the next stop, Yuu boarded the train, her face brightening when she saw Yomi. "Yomi! I'm so happy you're back!" The small girl nuzzled Yomi and sat next to her. "I guess Mato's still in the hospital, yeah?"

"I guess..." Yomi said, looking at the floor.

Yuu frowned, "Have you heard anything from her?"

Yomi thought for a moment, "Nope."

"I hope she's okay..." Yuu fidgeted, "Maybe we can pay her a visit after school?"

"Um...I'm going to hang out with Kagari...sorry." Yomi's eyes darted around the train.

"Oh, well maybe another...time..." Yuu sounded troubled. Yomi gave a noncommittal shrug and tried to cover her neck with her hands, wincing as she pressed against the tender skin. "Oh!" Yuu said, and pulled a green scarf out of her bag. "Use this. It's light so it won't get too hot."Yomi nodded and wrapped it around her neck, successfully covering it and repelling the stares of her classmates.

When they arrived at school, Yomi was immediately greeted with a big hug from Kagari. "It's so good to see you ba—"

Yomi's phone buzzed. Kagari let go and glanced at Yomi's phone.

"Yomi I'm so so so so sorry. I didn't mean to :c"

Yomi didn't know what to do. How could you accidentally almost strangle your friend?

The look in her eyes was determined. She wasn't going to stop until Yomi gasped her last.

Kagari rolled her eyes, "She's gonna hurt you, Yomi. Just don't bother. I have to make one quick errand after school, then I'll come over. I'll see you later, okay?" she gave Yomi a quick squeeze and flounced off.

Yuu waited patiently as they exchanged their greetings, then walked with Yomi to class, not saying much. Yomi supposed Yuu had a hard time connecting to people apart from Mato and herself, but in Mato's absence she even seemed to be quiet around Yomi.

Classes proceeded that day normally, with Yomi getting the occasional text from Mato apologising. She could hear the unkind whispers of her classmates:

"I heard Kuroi went psycho and tried to kill Takanashi."

"There always was something off about those two."

"Maybe it was a lovers' quarrel!"

"Wonder if she'll disappear again. Do everyone a favour."

Yomi tried to ignore them, but a tear ran down her cheek all the same, followed by more until her whole face was damp and she couldn't see straight.

* * *

After school, Kagari entered the hospital lobby and went up to see Mato. The girl was lying facedown on her bed. A light sobbing filled the room.

"Mato-chan! What's the matter?" Kagari asked in a concerned tone. Mato rolled over to face the blonde. Her eyes were red and full of tears, her hair an absolute mess.

"Y-yomi hates me," she sobbed, "She's ignored me all day." She buried her face in her hands.

"Maybe she's mad at you for what you did. Like I said, give her some space." Kagari shrugged at her, "She still seemed pretty shaken up at school today."

"O-oh." Fresh tears flowed down Mato's face.

"Shush now," Kagari said with a small grin, "Let's focus on happy times with Yomi. Tell me about all the good times you two have had. That'll cheer you up."

"I-I'll try." Mato told Kagari about the time they tried to learn guitar, how they did their homework together often, about the festivals they went to, about their favourite movies and flavours of ice cream. There's this one spot that we go to on weekends just to be there. We have picnics there. It's—"

The door opened. "How's my Ace?" Yuu's voice came. Kagari swore under her breath. "Who's this?" Kagari turned around. "Oh. It's you. I thought you were supposed to be bothering Yomi," Yuu said, "She told me that she couldn't see Mato because of you."

"She...lied...?" Mato asked Yuu, "I thought she'd visit..."

"I'll try to convince her to visit," Kagari said, "I'm about to go and visit now. Bye." She left the room, Mato still crying. She couldn't help but think back to all the details that Mato gave her. They were closer than she thought. It made her angry. Envy bubbled in Kagari. Why couldn't she already have the perfect relationship with Yomi? Why did she have to be the outsider? She glared ahead, determined to create that relationship with Yomi.

* * *

_Chariot rolled alongside BRS towards her goal. They seemed to be in an alliance now, and the blue-eyed fighter had no qualms about going towards the ruins of the cathedral. Exactly as she wanted it._

* * *

Yuu returned home in a sour mood. Yomi had completely blown off Mato at a time where Mato probably needed her more than anything else. The entire time Yuu was there, Mato was upset about what had happened to Yomi, not even mentioning her own ordeal at the game once. Yuu knew that Mato had special feelings for Yomi, so for her to hurt her was devastating. Worse was knowing that Yomi had gone out of her way to avoid her. Yuu remembered back to when she first found out about Mato's feelings for Yomi.

_**"Truth...or dare?" Mato asked Yuu. Yuu had just moved in with her foster family, and Mato was sleeping over to get to know them.**_

**_"Hm...dare!" Yuu said with a mischievous grin._**

**_"Feeling adventurous, huh?" Mato smirked, "I dare you to mess Haruka up at MarioKart downstairs." Yuu smirked and the pair quietly snuck downstairs, where Haruka and Sayu were playing. As usual, Sayu was narrowly losing. "OW MY TOE!" Yuu shouted. Haruka whirled around and her character drove off a cliff into lava._**

**_"Dammit, Yuu!" Haruka swore and Saya giggled, "Nice one, Koutari-chan."_**

**_Mato laughed and pulled her back upstairs. "Okay, my turn."_**

**_Yuu held a flashlight under her chin and said as dramatically as possible, "Truth...or...DARE?"_**

**_"Truth~! My mommy says I'm a good girl!" she stuck her tongue out at Yuu._**

**_Yuu snorted, "Sure, Mato. Good at basketball maybe."_**

**_"Hey! Shut up!" Mato playfully tackled Yuu, "I didn't just mess my new sister up at her game."_**

**_"She's not my sister." The corners of her mouth twitched. Yuu pushed Mato off and asked her, "Who is your crush?" Mato turned pink._**

**_"N-nobody in particular!"_**

**_"Mato, you suck at lying." Yuu gave her a gentle push. "Who is it?"_**

**_"Nobody! I-I swear!" she avoided eye contact._**

**_"Tell me!" she grabbed Mato's head and flicked her._**

**_"No!"_**

**_Another flick._**

**_"Yuu!"_**

**_Still another._**

**_"S-stop!" Mato's face was extremely red._**

**_"Not 'til you tell me~" she flicked her again._**

**_"Yuu!"_**

**_Flick. Flick. Flick._**

**_"YOMI TAKANASHI!" she shouted, then shoved at Yuu. Yuu let go and giggled._**

**_"No way! Seriously?" she smirked at Mato._**

**_"Yeah...she's smart and pretty and nice and stuff..." she mumbled, "But you can't tell ANYBODY, especially not Yomi!" she grabbed Yuu, "I'll have to kill you if you do!"_**

**_Yuu laughed, "I'm sworn to secrecy, Mato. Watch out, though. You've got competition! Ken's been getting some muscles lately! And Yoshi's been growing a beard!"_**

**_"Oh shut up!" Mato hit her with a pillow._**

"Yuu!" Haruka's voice came. Yuu felt her arms wrap around her. As usual, she let herself be hugged but didn't return the favour.

"Hey."

"How's Mato?"

"Sad."

Haruka frowned, "Oh no, why?"

"Yomi." She extricated herself from Haruka's grasp and went upstairs, shutting her door.

* * *

Sayu looked at Haruka. "What's up with that girl? She never talks."

Haruka shrugged, "She's been like that since she moved in with dad and me. I can't connect with her."

"You're trying too hard," Sayu said, "I bet I could connect with her."

"No way! I'm her sister and she won't even make eye contact."

"Let's make a little game of it then," Sayu said, "First person to befriend Yuu takes the other one out to dinner. The poor girl could use some company anyway, with her friends in hospital."

"You're on," Haruka said, extending her hand. Sayu shook it with a smile. "Now how about some MarioKart?"

* * *

**[A/N] Yes, I used young Saya! I thought she looked more like Black Gold Saw than creepy older Saya. I gave her a bit more personality this time around. This chapter is mostly just a transition into the next one, where things get really interesting. Also I wanted to write about Yuu's home life.**


	6. Pragmatism, not idealism

**Last we left our heroine, she was still in the hospital, making friends with Kagari, talking about Yomi. Meanwhile, Yomi has become closer to Kagari and seems to be avoiding Mato. In the Otherworld, Geshumaru and BGS are battling, while Chariot and BRS continue towards the cathedral.**

* * *

_The saw smacked against the automaton's armour, denting it. It stumbled slightly, then struck back, smacking Black Gold Saw into the floor. The red-eyed girl dealt a series of quick blows to the machine, causing to reel a few steps back. The red flame in her burned brighter._

_A figure appeared in the distance, wearing a black hood._

**BRS VI  
Pragmatism, not idealism.  
**  
Mato was discharged from the hospital that weekend. Only one week until the semifinals. Kagari had visited her a couple more times, but Kagari's presence weighed on Mato, dragging her down. Their conversations were almost all about Yomi. While Mato was happy to think about the good times they shared, it made her sad that Yomi wasn't there. Mato wondered why Kagari asked so much about her.

Over the weekend, Mato tried unsuccessfully to text and call Yomi. She'd even walked to Yomi's enormous house and tried to see her in person, but Yomi was out with a friend every time. Her mother seemed short with her, but what could she expect? She was bad. She hurt Yomi.

At least she would see her at the corner on Monday. She thought back to Yomi's deliberate lie to Yuu. It hurt.

"Heartache," she whispered dejectedly. She was walking to the corner. Yomi wasn't anywhere to be found. She was never there after Mato. Ever. She already felt tears welling up. She stalled as long as she could, perhaps too long. Sprinting to the station, she just made it.

Yomi wasn't on the train, either. Mato looked at the train floor, wiping an occasional tear away.

"Isn't that Kuroi?"

"The girl who tried to kill Takanashi-san?"

"I can see the headlines! 'Basketball star turned killer strangles best friend'!"

Mato covered her ears. Yuu got on a few minutes later. Her face was tired-looking. She plopped down next to Mato. "Where's Yomi?" Yuu asked.

Mato shook her head and shut her eyes. "I've lost her. She's gone." More tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Mato, it's okay, shh..." Yuu pulled her friend close, "Yomi's probably still a bit in shock from last week. You should relax. I don't want anything to happen again..."

Mato was unresponsive. Her blood pounded in her ears. She needed help. She needed Yomi. Yomi was the only one that could make it better.

* * *

_Chariot pulled Black Rock Shooter through the wasteland, pulling her up when she fell, though roughly. Their destination grew nearer with every step._

* * *

School began uneventfully for Mato. Her bright blue eyes were dull and sad. The urge to cry kept coming back. Yomi came into sight as she walked into class.

She was sitting at her desk with a scarf on, chatting with Kagari. She was laughing. Mato stared at her. She looked so calm, so beautiful. Mato felt her face flare slightly and thought of ways to approach.

Yomi suddenly turned towards Mato. Green eyes met blue. Mato stood stock-still, fear filling her. Yomi's expression was unfathomable. It looked almost confused. Mato thought carefully about her next move. She needed Yomi badly. _I'm just going to give her a hug and tell her I'm sorry. Right now. I'll do it.  
_  
Kagari put a hand on Yomi's shoulder and turned her back towards her. At the same the teacher said, "Sit down; stay a while, Kuroi-kun." Mato blushed in embarrassment and meekly took her seat.

She was unable to focus the entire class. The teacher was going on about the Edo period or something. Mato simply doodled in her notebook and stole glances at Yomi, trying to figure out what to say, and at the same time wishing that Yomi was hers.

After the bell rang, Mato stood up and was about to approach Yomi, who was moving quickly for the exit. A hand grabbed her shoulder rather hard. "Mato, can I talk to you?" Kagari's voice whispered in Mato's ear.

"I need to talk to Yom—" Kagari shushed her.

"That's the thing. I don't think that's a good idea."

"But—"

"Look, I know that she means a lot to you, judging by the way you talk about her. She's upset with you. I know you think that one hug will solve everything, but let's be pragmatic. She's scared of you. Just..."

Mato struggled, "I wanna see Yomi!"

"Look. She doesn't want to see you. You're scary to her. You hurt her. You can't fix it. It'll have to work itself out. Be a good girl and stay away from her." Kagari looked Mato in the eyes.

"O-okay..." she said, slumping down, "Shh..." Kagari gave her a hug. "You'll be fine."

She slipped a piece of paper in Mato's pocket. "Just fine."

* * *

Yomi thought back to the last few days. Her neck was healing well, though it still hurt. She didn't know what she'd have done without Kagari. She'd been a huge help, cheering Yomi up with all her favourite things. They went to the mall and Kagari had gotten her ice cream and candy, and even got her a nice sweatshirt. It was all perfect. It's like she knew exactly what she loved. Some intuition that girl had.

She thought back to Mato's stare in class. It was odd, but she felt a sort of longing to go back to her. Kagari kept telling her not to though. And Kagari was right about all the other things that made Yomi happy, so odds were that Kagari knew what was best, just like Yuu knew what was best for Mato. She sighed and walked to her next class. Physical education.

* * *

_Chariot reached the chasm, Black Rock Shooter behind her. In the centre was the collapsed cathedral. She needed to get inside, and BRS was going to let her. It was only fair. She looked to the blue-eyed fighter, pausing for the verdict._

_There was a nod._

* * *

Mato entered the girls' locker room, changing for phys ed. Yomi stood away from her, a few lockers away. She was tempted to say something to Yomi but remembered Kagari's words.

_**"You hurt her. You can't fix it."  
**_  
She sighed and pulled her gym things from her bag, glancing at Yomi. Yomi was unbuttoning her shirt. A wave of heat hit Mato's face as she watched, transfixed, as Yomi undid each button. Her mind ran wild, assaulting her with images that made her only go redder, each more appealing than the last. One in particular involved her and Yomi kissing in just underwear. Mato was unable to think of anything but Yomi—

"Mato!" Yuu's voice hissed, "You do this every other gym class! Stop checking her out! It's creepy!"

Mato was brought back to reality quickly. She dipped her head to hide her blush and forced the image of her and Yomi kissing out of her head. "S-sorry, Yuu!"

"And _I'm _the dirty one!" Yuu rolled her eyes, "Lusting after little birds?"

"Shut up, i-it's hormones!" Mato retorted quietly so Yomi didn't hear.

"Hormones? Ha! If you had hormones you'd have actually grown!" Yuu stuck her tongue out.

"Look who's talking!" Mato imitated Yuu's face.

"Let's just get dressed, she's looking at us!" Yuu whispered. Mato nodded and pulled off her blazer. Just then, a small piece of paper fell out.

"Hm?" Mato looked at it and picked it up. Unfolding it, her eyes darted across the neat letters on the page. She let out a sob.

"Mato? What's the matter?" Yuu went to her friend's side. They were alone in the locker room now, Yomi leaving without a word. Mato handed Yuu the note.

"You're a monster. Who could even want you around? I'm terrified of you. Please don't come near again.

Yomi."

* * *

"Mato."

The girl didn't answer, lost in her own world. The words of the note replayed in her head again and again.

"_Mato._"

The world came into focus as Yuu frowned at her from across the table. "Eat something. You can't be weak for the game on Saturday."

"Not hungry." She pushed her bento away. Yuu gave her a look and pushed it back. "Eat. You're scrawny enough as it is. You need your strength."

Mato was silent and didn't pick up her chopsticks. Yuu's expression became sour. "Mato Kuroi, if you don't eat anything I'm going to go over to Yomi and proclaim your love for her and tell her that you were definitely thinking dirty thoughts about her earlier."

Mato seized her chopsticks and began shovelling in food, to Yuu's mild amusement. She smiled, "There you go, Ace. Gotta stay fit. Don't want you sick again." Mato didn't respond.

Kagari came over from Yomi's table. "Hey Mato, the other day you were talking, and you mentioned a place you and Yomi went to. Where was it, again?"

Yuu looked at Mato, raising an eyebrow. "I haven't heard of any special place, Mato. A secret place to meet your 'little bird'?"

"I swear, Yuu, I'm going to kill you," she hissed through her teeth. Yuu kicked her under the table.

"Well?" Kagari asked, leaning forward.

"Um, the scenic viewpoint in the east..." Mato said.

"Okay!" Kagari skipped away.

"That was weird..." Yuu said suspiciously, "What's up with her?"

Mato shrugged and picked at the remnants of lunch.

"Mato and Yomi, sittin' on the balcony~  
Chu chu chu~" Yuu made faces at Mato.

"Ugh! Yuu! Cut it out!" Mato shot her a reproachful look, "I just want to get my mind off of Yomi, okay? That's not helping! Please stop..."

Yuu nodded slowly, "Sorry..." Mato poked at her lunch again, suddenly not hungry anymore.

* * *

Kagari came over to Yomi. "Sorry about that! Just asking Yuu a question about the playoffs!" Yomi nodded.

"How about we have a picnic this afternoon?" Kagari said, "Just us!"

"That sounds nice," Yomi said, "Where should we have it?"

"The east scenic view. It'll be perfect today." Yomi gave her a surprised look, but smiled eventually.

"I love it there. Let's do it!"

* * *

_Chariot and Black Rock Shooter walked through the ruined hallways of the cathedral, descending deeper and deeper into its labyrinth. They began to descend the final staircase, the staircase that led to the very heart of the old place._

_Where Dead Master would surely be sleeping._

* * *

Yuu came home to find the house was empty. She wasn't quite sure what to do with herself; this had never happened before. Feeling a little apprehensive, she removed her shoes and walked into the kitchen. Her feet felt cold on the linoleum. There was a note stuck on the fridge.

"Yuu,

Dad's working overtime and Sayu and I have gone out. We are sorry. If you need food, help yourself to any leftovers in the fridge. You can invite Mato or Yomi over if you'd like. We're so sorry and we'll be home later.

Love,  
Haruka."

Yuu shrugged and went to watch TV. Mato was too much of a wreck to come and Yomi was probably busy. She sighed. She'd never felt this lonely before. As she sat down on the couch, a crumpling noise startled her. She pulled a wrinkled note from under her.

"Yuu,

I noticed early on in my time of meeting you that you're quiet. You like to keep to yourself and that's okay. I just want you to know that underneath that quietness, you are one of the most admirable, talented people I've ever met.

You manage a basketball team, not to mention always look after Mato and Yomi. You're a great artist; I've seen your drawings. You're even a decent cook, and you're probably better at a lot of stuff than me and Sayu. I admire what you do.

You don't have to be the only one that gets care when they need it. Even if you don't think of me as your sister, you'll always be my little sister, and I'm going to watch out for you.

Love,  
Haruka."

Tears ran down Yuu's face. She carefully folded the note and put in close to her heart, in her left breast pocket of her blazer. She smiled through her tears.

* * *

_Geshumaru's machine pushed Black Gold Saw out of the way and ran towards the figure in black. The figure in black tensed to fight, but the machine knelt down. The fire from its helmet flared up, and a girl with short grey hair that framed her face appeared in its arms. It gently lowered her to the ground._

_"I would like an alliance."_

_The figure in black pulled her hood off to reveal a head of white hair and amber eyes. "Deal."_

* * *

Yomi sat on a blanket as the sun shined down on her and Kagari. They ate a few snacks and chatted idly about some of the places Yomi had lived. She smiled at Kagari.

"Do...do you like it...?" Kagari asked her carefully. She looked nervous.

Yomi gave her the kindest smile she could. "It's perfect."

"I can make it better..." Kagari said quietly, scooting over towards Yomi.

"Really?" Yomi looked at Kagari's face. The usual confident smile seemed to have disappeared. She wondered what was going on.

"Like this." Kagari gently pushed her lips to Yomi's and gave her a soft kiss, causing Yomi's face to flare up.

"K-kagari!" Yomi stammered.

"Shh..." she planted another kiss on her lips.

* * *

_Chariot forced the door open. The bottommost chamber was open at last. She could feel the power radiating from the chamber._

_"Dead Master! Come forth!" The floor rumbled. Black Rock Shooter's eye flared up. A wisp of vapour rose from an enormous chasm in the room. It swirled around Chariot's head._

* * *

Mato was at home, locked in her room. She felt dreadful and her heart ached. She thought of staying in there forever and never leaving. The pain of seeing Yomi and not speaking was unbearable. She needed a place to let the pain go.

Her secret place.

She got out of bed and grabbed her shoes, heading downstairs. After a brief goodbye from her mom, she got on her bike and rode to her special place. She panted a bit as she climbed the stairs; there must have been still a bit of residual fatigue from her illness.

But when she reached the top, two people were already there. Yomi and Kagari. Mato felt a pain in her chest. She watched them chat for minute, then...Kagari leaned in and kissed Yomi on the lips. She repeated the action again, this time making it last longer, a proper kiss.

Mato felt something in her core break. This wasn't happening. No, it couldn't be. The next kiss was even longer. Tears forced themselves out of her eyes and she felt like curling up on the pavement and dying. Her whole body felt numb, except for a spot in her centre. Her heart was broken. Her Yomi now belonged to someone else.

Kagari embraced Yomi. To Mato, she might as well have shot her in the chest.

* * *

_The vapours entered Chariot. A smile came to her face as the ground shook. The cathedral up above was rebuilding itself. A sickly green glow emanated from her, the golden eyes now a shade of dark green. Black Rock Shooter attacked._

_"You're a fool, Black Rock Shooter." Chariot laughed. She deflected a few shots from the Rock Cannon with the shield. BRS jumped at her, Black Blade at the ready. The weapon glanced off the shield without even shaking Chariot. A chain wrapped around the fighter's ankle, tripping her._

_"Goodbye, Black Rock Shooter." As BRS staggered to her feet, Chariot ran her through with her sword. Blue blood spattered everywhere. Chariot drew the sword out and stabbed again._

_BRS gasped slightly, the flame in her eye extinguished. Chariot laughed as more chains held the girl in place. She stabbed again and again, blood flying everywhere._

_Black Rock Shooter collapsed to the floor in a puddle of blood. Satisfied, Chariot pushed her body into the abyss, finished with her goal. She had obtained what she wanted. Dead Master's power. And now nobody could stop her._


	7. Insane

**[A/N] Last we left our heroine, she had just seen Yomi, her friend (and crush) locking lips with Kagari, who was at least appearing to be her friend. Meanwhile, Yuu has finally reconciled with her sister, though this is preoccupying her time. In the Otherworld, Chariot has brutally killed Black Rock Shooter, bonding with Dead Master's battered form to become Dead Chariot. Is hope lost in the Otherworld, extinguished like the life of Black Rock Shooter?**

* * *

The door to the house opened. The pair of girls rushed inside. "I won!" Haruka shouted victoriously.

"No fair! You got a head start!" Sayu gave her a playful shove.

"All's fair!" Haruka said, shoving her back. "Yuu!" she called, "We're home! We brought you something!"

The small girl ran and embraced Haruka, a smile on her face.

**BRS VII  
Insane.  
**  
The dark-haired girl sat at her desk, looking over today's observations. She wore a black blazer and black tie over a white shirt. Her eyes were a dark grey. Her hair fell like a curtain behind her, reaching the middle of her back.

She leafed through the pages of the notebook, reading the occasional scribbling here and there. Finally, she reached today's.

"Saw the news today. Murder in the next town. Old guy. No family. Rich. Government made a lot of money off his fortune I bet.

"Saw a girl today. Small. Pigtails. Crying. She resonates something. She means something. Is this the meaning I've sought?

"Talked to myself in the mirror again. Same dream as before. Same conversation. Who is my reflection? Why is she so stupid? Doing just as I do, but in a different way?"

She sighed and circled the date. Today was important. She looked through to find the only other date she'd circled. There was only one thing on the page, written in a beautiful vertical column.

"**I DO NOT EXIST**." She smiled at the words on the page, proud of herself for coming up with this realisation.

"Because my name is Nana Myounashi."

* * *

Yomi gently pushed Kagari away, bright red, and looked past her to see Mato staring wide-eyed at her, tears running down her face. Yomi froze.

"M-mato!" Yomi stammered. The short girl ran down the stairs. Yomi began to run towards her. "Mato!" she called. Something seized her shoulder and squeezed. Kagari.

"Let her go," Kagari said. Yomi squirmed as Kagari's nails dug deeper into her shoulder. Mato had long since jumped on her bike. Yomi felt a tear roll down her cheek. "Hush, now," Kagari said, pecking her on the cheek, "Take out your phone."

"Why...?" Yomi asked, staring at the small figure of Mato riding farther away.

"Just do it." Kagari's voice had become cold and sharp. Yomi didn't like it. She reluctantly pulled out her phone. Kagari took it out of her hands and opened her contacts list, then selected Mato."Get rid of her. You'll be happier."

Yomi stared at the screen. The delete had already been pressed, with only a box reading "Are you sure? Y/N" keeping Mato's name in Yomi's phone. Kagari's grip became tighter. "Do it."

Yomi's hands shook as she pressed Y

"Contact Mato Kuroi deleted."

* * *

_Chariot left the basement to sit upstairs on the ornate throne. Two floating onyx skulls awaited her, wicked grins carved into their faces. She smiled, licking her lips. This world would soon be hers.  
_

* * *

Mato ran inside and slammed her door, earning a reprimand from her mother. Mato ignored it and cried into her pillow. Hours passed and fatigue overwhelmed her. Her pillow was soaked with tears. She pulled out her phone and tried to text Yuu. There was no answer.

* * *

_Black Rock Shooter struggled to stand up, half buried in rubble. She'd fallen a long way and her body was broken and bleeding. She coughed as blood spilled out of her mouth and onto her face and chin. She could barely see, feel or hear. The world was fading. She tried to reach out to Mato._

_The only thing that did was cause her excruciating pain as a reddish haze clouded her vision. The aura of suffering was thick around her other self. Choking on her own blood, she breathed a long shuddering breath, then her lungs stopped working._

* * *

"Yuu!" Mato sobbed, "Why aren't you answering me?" She sent more messages. After an hour, still nothing.

* * *

Yuu and her sister were actually talking for the first time. Yuu told her about what had happened at the game, much to Saya and Haruka's horror. She told them about Yomi and Mato not speaking to each other. She told them that she was sorry for not talking.

"It's okay," Saya and Haruka said together. Yuu smiled.

"Thanks for putting up with m—" Yuu's phone rang. She reached for it.

"Come on now," Haruka said, "You spend all day making sure that girl's in her best condition. Take a break and let us do something for you."

Yuu grinned, "Well, alright. I do work too much." She giggled, "By the way, I can kick your butt as Samus." She gave them both a smug grin.

"Oh? You're on!" Sayu gave them both a fierce smile and went to turn on the TV and Wii.

"You're no match for Tanagachi-style!" Haruka replied happily.

Yuu scoffed. "You've obviously never seen Koutari-style."

* * *

Mato closed her eyes, exhausted. Her chest hurt. Her heart hurt. She envisioned a glass image of a heart with cracks all over it, ruined forever. She could barely think straight. She felt angry and hurt. A bubbling feeling filled her stomach. Hatred. Mato didn't like the sensation at all, but it was unable to be supressed. She hated Yomi for doing that. She hated Kagari for ruining her spot. She hated Yuu for abandoning her.

_**"Give me your pain."**_

The voice sounded in Mato's head.

_**"I'm dying. Give me your pain. Give me you. Come to my world. Please..."  
**_  
Mato thought for a minute. Nobody wanted her around. Yomi hated her, Yuu was ignoring her, Kagari betrayed her. Even Hiro didn't like being with her in public. Everybody just hurt her. She needed out. Black Rock Shooter would help her.

"I'll go."

* * *

Yomi and Kagari ate blondies as they flipped through channels. Nothing was on. Yomi avoided the subject of the kisses they'd shared. They didn't feel right. Not to mention what they had done to Mato.

Mato. Yomi missed her. She'd felt a growing concern as they'd walked to her home, and now she was itching for an excuse to check on her.

"Kagari?" Yomi asked quietly. "I'm worried about Mato. Maybe I should check on her..."

"No! She'll hurt you again!" Kagari grabbed Yomi tightly.

"I'll be fine," Yomi said, "Promise." She gave her a soft smile. Kagari's expression didn't change.

"I'm just going to grab my coat." Yomi went up to her room, Kagari following. Yomi put on a light windbreaker, which was a green that matched her eyes. She walked towards the door. Kagari blocked her way.

"Kagari...? What are you doing...?"

"You're not going."

Yomi was taken aback. What had gotten into Kagari since they left school? "Um...yeah...I want to apologise to Ma—"

Kagari rushed at her and grabbed her collar, "I said you're not going. You're going to stay _here _with me and watch TV."

"Let go!" Yomi struggled, but Kagari had a strong grip. Kagari kissed Yomi.

"Now will you stay?" Kagari asked. Yomi shook her head. Kagari's face darkened in anger. She pushed Yomi to the floor. "_You're staying!_"

Yomi squirmed and flailed. She pulled out Kagari's ponytail, unleashing a mane of unruly blonde hair. Kagari pulled out a pin and forced Yomi's shirt to the side, exposing a shoulder. She brought the pin to her shoulder while Yomi screamed. Kagari covered her mouth.

After a minute of flailing and screaming, Yomi looked at her shoulder to see "Kagari Izuriha" etched into her pale skin. Blood ran down her shoulder. She cried.

"Now are you going to go?" Kagari asked sweetly, getting off Yomi and kissing her head. She tied her hair back up and extended her hand.

"N-no..." Yomi sobbed.

"Good girl. Now don't tell anyone. Or Mato gets it tenfold."

* * *

_Chariot felt Dead Master within her grappling for control. The two skulls floated uncomfortably close._

_She frowned and pushed the demon down, smothering her in her own consciousness. The struggling slowed, then stopped._

_Perfect._

* * *

"There's something wrong," Nana wrote, "Because I said so. I told me. My stubborn reflection."

She looked outside at the night. The town was pretty quiet at night. All was silent except for the occasional barking dog.

"The crying girl is gone."

* * *

_Black Rock Shooter felt a dim presence heading towards her. She felt somebody within her. A rush of strength filled her. Mato had come to rescue her. She opened her eyes, her flame flaring._

_"Mato..." she smiled, "You c—"_

_A rush of red energy smashed into her subconscious. She could detect Mato, but she was wrapped in the same red haze. The energy burned her mind. She writhed in agony, her flame burning higher and higher._

_"Ma—" A primal scream was the only response she got from Mato, sending jolts of pain through her. She coughed up more blood. Mato seemed to be fighting for control of the outside. The blood she coughed up wasn't blue, but red._

_BRS felt her vision blur as Mato poured more and more pain into her. Then more complex emotions followed in a black haze. Resentfulness, anger, fear, sadness. Each left BRS reeling._

_She tried desperately to communicate with Mato, but there seemed to be nothing but the haze. Finally, hate came in a bright red flash from the small form of Mato, barely visible. BRS' consciousness slipped into the haze, trapped._

_The flame flared both red and blue as her body shook. The two colours mixed to form an enormous purple flare. The fire spread to her body, making what was left of BRS' ravaged mind scream. Her Rock Cannon glowed bright with violet flame._

_Suddenly her arms burst apart, the bone becoming metal as they stretched with a horrific cracking. The metal on her arms spread to her chest, covering it in a chestplate of black metal. Her legs followed suit and became metal. The scars on her stomach became an angry and irritated red. A bolt of electricity ran through her hair, keeping it in a suspended, spiky position._

_Black Rock Shooter opened her brand new eyes. They were violet, with streaks of red and blue. The huge flare shortened. Insane Black Rock Shooter had been born._

* * *

Yuu got on the train to find only Yomi there. She thought about Mato's texts.

"Kagari kissed Yomi. She betrayed me :'c Yuu I feel like disappearing."

"Yuu. I need ur help. I feel so angry. I hate Kagari. Its scary. I don't feel right."

"Yuu :'c where r u?"

"Yuu!"

"Who needs you anyway?"

Yuu glared at Yomi. She'd never seen Mato like that. Ever. An overwhelming urge to hit Yomi filled Yuu. How could she do that to Mato, even if Mato had hurt her? It had probably destroyed her. Yuu knew what she had to do.

"Takanashi," she spat, moving next to her, "What you did to Mato yesterday destroyed her! How could you do that to her? _Why?_"

Yomi burst into tears. "G-go away Yuu. I don't want to talk about last night."

"You're going to call Mato and talk to her." Yuu shoved the phone at Yomi.

"The number you have dialled is no longer in service."

Yuu's eyes widened. She dialled Mato's home phone, turning away from Yomi.

"_Yuu! Where's Mato? !_" Mato's mother's voice sounded panicked and desperate.

"You mean she's not at home?" Yuu asked, her insides turning to ice.

"No! I went up to her room because she didn't get up and she was gone! Where is Mato? _Where is my daughter? !_" Ms. Kuroi was hysterical.

"Shh, calm down," Yuu said in a quiet voice, though very afraid herself. "She's a tough girl. She'll be alright."

"She came home crying yesterday. Do you know anything about that? She never tells me _anything _lately. It's been worrying. Ever since the accident she's been sad. I don't know what to do. I called the police. They might want to talk to you after school. I...I'll see you then..."

She hung up. Yuu turned to Yomi. "Mato is missing."

* * *

**[A/N] I'd like to thank all my readers and reviewers! I've had amazing amounts of hits lately. Thank you all! Keep reading and reviewing guys! Gonna go write Chapter X now.**


	8. Dead Master

**[A/N] Last we left our heroine, she left this world, finding it too painful, for another, in Black Rock Shooter, breaking her mind and unleashing something destructive on the world. Meanwhile, Kagari shows her ugly side, taking Yomi as her property.**

_The nude girl floated in a small blue sphere, unconscious. Outside the sphere, a swirling chaos of red and black, and the remains of another nude girl._

_Blue eyes snapped open. "Where am I?" she asked, looking at the unpleasant mist of red. There was a pulsing heat emanating from it. Though fearful of the mist, this world felt calm and warm. She looked down at her slender form, feeling confused._

_She suspected she'd worn something earlier, although she wasn't completely sure. She mentally shrugged, not caring. It was nice here._

* * *

**BRS VIII**  
**Dead Master.**

Two days had passed since Mato's disappearance. Word of it spread quickly, and it wasn't long before Yuu and Yomi heard the unkind gossip of their classmates.

"This just like what happened to Takanashi. Why would they want Mato? Her family isn't rich."

"Who cares? She was crazy, remember? Good riddance, I say."

"Takanashi's next. They always disappear together. Wonder why."

"Obviously they try to run off together."

"I bet they just do it for attention!"

Yomi felt herself feel in a lower and lower mood each day. Kagari wouldn't leave her alone, and kept her away from Yuu. Both Yomi and Yuu had been interrogated by the police, but they had no leads. Her wounded shoulder prickled. The circumstances felt familiar to Yomi, but it was nearly impossible to think.

Kagari kept kissing Yomi in public, despite Yomi's efforts to evade her. She heard other people gossip more and more about her as time passed. Yomi knew that deep down, Mato's disappearance was her fault.

Each day, Kagari came over and forced Yomi to play with her, refusing her when she tried to leave or talk to Yuu. When Yomi protested, Kagari kicked her or hit her. She deserved it for abandoning Mato.

* * *

_Chariot sat serenely as she carefully planned her next move. There seemed to be no threat to her power. Strength was preoccupied with her alliances with Geshumaru and Black Gold Saw, Dead Master was safely trapped inside her and Black Rock Shooter was dead, her body lying lifeless below._

_Occasionally Dead Master struggled, but the demon was always subdued in the end._

_Thump! Chariot went flying off her chair and slammed into the floor. She looked up woozily to see one of the floating skulls advancing towards her, green fire in its eyes._

* * *

Yuu sat at home, playing cards with Sayu and Haruka. Things had been going smoothly there. Her troubles seemed to vanish when she came home. She felt at peace. Even her father commented on her marked improvement.

"Bust," Sayu said, "I have the worst luck at this game."

"Going to stop," Haruka said, putting down a hand of nineteen. "Beat that, Yuu."

"Okay, hit me." Yuu took the card from Haruka and smirked.

"That's not a good sign, Haruka," Saya nudged her.

"Blackjack." Yuu put down her cards. A perfect twenty-one. Yuu gave them a smug grin and grabbed a cookie from the centre of the table as a prize.

Saya turned to Yuu, "Any news on Mato-chan?" Yuu shook her head. "It's weird, though...this is just like what happened when Yomi disappeared." Her face became troubled, "I tried looking for her myself in a few places, but I haven't found her. Her phone doesn't seem to be working at all."

Yuu's mood dampened. All this time, she'd been responsible for Mato's well-being and making sure she's okay to play basketball, and she had completely lost her. She felt like she had personally failed. On top of that, the semifinals were in three days, and the team really needed Mato. She felt useless. She couldn't wallow, though. She had to help the rest of the team, too. It wasn't her fault she was gone.

Haruka gave Yuu a quick hug. "It's okay, sis. She'll turn up, sooner or later."

* * *

Yomi was on her bed, watching tiredly as Kagari drew a picture of her. Her eyes were dark with tiredness. She had been having scary nightmares about Mato's disappearance, most of which ended in Mato's brutal death.

_**"Hey."  
**_  
Yomi heard a voice in her head. She looked around for its source, but there didn't seem to be anyone but Kagari, who was humming to herself quietly. _Oh great, now I'm hearing voices in my head._

_**"Yomi~! Don't tell me you've forgotten yourself! It's your loveable, sexy Dead Master."**_The voice cackled in her head. Yomi's eyes widened. She was still alive? Why did she wait so long to talk to her? Yomi was afraid of this being. She had kept her consciousness imprisoned during her disappearance two years ago and hurt Mato.

"What do you want?" Yomi asked.

"What I want is for you to sit still!" Kagari snapped at Yomi. Yomi flushed slightly with embarrassment and focused more on Dead Master. She felt like running away, but there was no place to hide.

Laughter echoed in her head. _**"That blonde bitch's other self has got me prisoner. A little help? Pretty please with sugar on top?"  
**_  
_**"No. You hurt me and Mato. Serves you right."  
**_  
_**"Just like it serves you right. You're her prisoner. You deserve it for pushing your little friend over the edge. She's here. I can feel it. Well, toodles~!"**_Yomi gasped slightly. Mato was in the Otherworld? But why? Was she alone? Or was the other girl, Black Rock Shooter taking care of her?

She thought back.

_**"Mato doesn't need me anymore," Yomi said as she sobbed, "Yuu can be a better friend than I could ever be. Maybe I should just kill myself. It's not like anyone would miss me."**_

**_A voice spoke to her in the dark._**

**"I can help you. Get away. Disappear. I'll keep you safe, I promise. It's more fun where I am anyway."  
**_**  
"Who...who said that?" Yomi asked fearfully, looking everywhere in the room. The voice laughed. **_**"I'm your other self."**

**_"Other...self?" she asked slowly. She didn't like this voice. It sounded too much like hers. She hid under the covers._**

**"Yes. There's two of lots of people around here. There's two of your little 'friend' that abandoned you. There's two of that pipsqueak that stole her away. There's two of you. I can keep you safe. Safe from the pain. Just let me take you here."**

_**Yomi thought about it. She was frightened. Truly frightened. This seemed like a deal with the devil to her. "Um...I'll think about it."**_

**"Very well. I'll always be here if you need me."**

**_The next few days were torturous. Mato barely acknowledged her presence at all, preferring to speak to Yuu._**

**"Look at that,"**_** Dead Master commented, **_**"You exist! Why is she treating you like you don't?"  
**_**  
Then came the worst day of all. Yomi went to Mato's room to wait for her to come out and talk to her, or at least be with her. She waited. And waited. And waited. Mato didn't come out. She looked into the room to see her laughing and chatting with Yuu, completely ignoring Yomi entirely.**_

**"Look at that,"**_** Dead Master remarked, **_**"She doesn't care about you! How could she do that to you? Disgusting!"  
**_**  
Yomi felt tears roll down her cheeks. She felt angry at Mato. If she could have slapped her, she would have.**_

**"Shh...there there, Yomi. My offer is still on the table, you know."  
**_**  
"I'll do it."**__  
_  
Those weren't good times for Yomi. But Mato had rescued her...and Yomi owed it to her. She got off the bed.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kagari demanded, throwing down her sketch pad.

"To find Mato."

"No! Why would you want to find that bitch again? She tried to kill you!" Kagari grabbed Yomi.

"I don't care!" Yomi snarled, breaking free of Kagari's iron grip, "I need to find her!"

"No! You're staying here!" Kagari pulled Yomi, knocking her to the floor. As she went to tackle, Yomi kicked her in the stomach, knocking her over.

Kagari screamed. She pinned Yomi down and pulled out her needle. "I'll show you! You are my property! Mine!" She pulled at Yomi's shirt to expose her other shoulder.

Yomi bit Kagari's arm, causing her to shriek.

* * *

_The two onyx skulls attacked, slamming her into the wall, which cracked heavily. Chariot stared at her attackers in shock, struggling to maintain control over them. Inside her, she felt the demon twitch as she_

* * *

was pinned to the ground by Yomi, tearing her blazer in the back. Kagari clawed at Yomi's face leaving a

* * *

_scratch on the skull's face. Chariot smirked and brought her sword down, preparing to strike again before she was  
_

* * *

punched hard in the mouth by Yomi. She tasted blood. "OBEY!" she screamed, jabbing at Yomi with the needle. It left a tiny mark under her eye.

Yomi pulled her hair and knocked the needle away. It glinted in the lamp light of the room for a second, then was lost in the carpet. Kagari trembled with

* * *

_anger after being disarmed by the skulls. Inside her, the monster within clawed away, causing an intense pain. Suddenly, a voice came from everywhere_

_"You_

* * *

"don't

* * *

_"own_

* * *

"ME!" Yomi shouted, and gave Kagari one last slap before getting off of her. She

* * *

_exited Chariot in a great billowing of black vapour, materialising across the room._

_The girl had greenish brown hair, deep green eyes and two curved metallic horns on her head. "Remember me?" she laughed. The two skulls slammed into Chariot, leaving her_

* * *

bruised on the floor. Kagari wasn't done yet, though. She jumped up and grabbed Yomi as she tried to leave, her arms wrapping around her neck.

Yomi went rigid. Instinctively, out of protection of her neck and fear, she threw Kagari off her

* * *

_causing her to slide across the checkered floor. A series of chains_

* * *

tripped her. Off-balance, Kagari fell backwards towards the stairs. Yomi's eyes widened, and she lunged for her, trying to stop her fall. Kagari's mouth

* * *

_opened in fear as the chains pulled her towards Dead Master. A terrible scythe appeared in the demon's hand as she licked her lips. The scythe came up_

* * *

and Kagari crashed down, hitting each stair as she fell, sliding inexorably towards the wall. Yomi screamed

* * *

_in delight as she brought the scythe down, impaling Chariot. Chariot  
_

* * *

gasped at the bottom of the stairs. Yomi's mother quickly ran to see what had happened. "Yomi! What happened to Kagari?"

Yomi glared at the girl lying half-conscious at the bottom of the stairs. "She attacked me and fell down the stairs. Look," she pulled back her shirt to show Kagari's name etched into the skin.

Kagari

* * *

_closed her eyes as Dead Master sliced off her head. Dead Master lowered her to the floor, the chains disappearing. She ran  
_

* * *

down the stairs and out the door.

"Yomi, where are you going?" her mother cried.

"To Mato!" she called back.

* * *

_Insane Black Rock Shooter picked herself up, shaking the dirt from her body. She glared at the wall in front of her. It stretched upwards, seemingly infinitely, the checkerboard pattern fading into the dark._

_The one that had hurt her was near. She could feel her presence. She was going to wipe that person off the face of this world. She looked at her new form. Her Rock Cannon was twice as powerful and fused to her arm. Her Black Blade was wickedly curved and fused to her other arm. Perfect weapons to destroy her adversary._

_Her purple flame, constantly burning, flared higher as she fired chains at the faraway ceiling. They held. They slowly pulled her up to the lowest room in Dead Master's lair, closer to her enemy._

* * *

_The girl noticed a change in her personal world. The blue shifted to more of a indigo. "Pretty..." she mumbled. The pulsing heat from the haze kept her bare body warm. It was pleasant, being in this little world. She never wanted to leave._

_Never._

**[A/N] And that's the end of the Kagari arc! See you tomorrow!**


	9. Alone

**[A/N] Last we left our heroine, she was within Insane Black Rock Shooter's subconscious. Meanwhile, Yomi has run from the home after accidentally knocking Kagari down the stairs. Language coming up.**

"_Indigo is a pretty colour," the girl said, dipping her toes in an indigo haze that was slowly forming around her. It was colder than she thought, and she shivered, retracting her foot._

_She curled up in a fetal position, her dark hair sitting on her head in a mess. It was comfortable like this. She couldn't help but feel lonely. If only she had a playmate. There was a pretty nude girl floating through the red mist, but she seemed to be sleeping._

_With her eyes open._

**BLACK ROCK SHOOTER IX  
Alone.**

The dark-haired girl sat near the balcony. The sun was setting. She pulled out her notebook and looked her observations for the day. Mostly just scribblings about the fools that surrounded her, but one was important.

"I told myself that the overlook was special. I didn't believe myself at first, but I convinced me that this is the spot. The sun has lost another battle, her blood spilling across the sky."

She looked around the area for anything special that stood out to her. Nothing seemed to speak to her, but then a faint glimmer caught her eye. She picked up a blue cell phone charm in the shape of a star.

"Black Rock Shooter," she whispered, and sketched it. A girl came panting up the stairs, out of breath.

"Who are you?" she asked the panting girl, her pencil poised to write down her name.

"Yomi Takanashi..." the girl said.

"Spell that."

"Kotori-asobi Yomi..." she murmured.

"Unusual..." She copied the name down in her notebook. "The girl resonates. She looks like Dead Master. This is Dead Master. I feel like we should do something but of course we must remain neutral."

The charm hung from her hand, glimmering.

Kagari was rushed to the hospital with a concussion and a broken wrist. She had apparently landed on it funny. Despite her protests that Yomi had pushed her down the stairs, she was severely shouted down by Mrs Takanashi, who screamed at her for what she had done to Yomi's shoulder. Yomi's father attempted to call Yomi several times but her phone was shut off. It was worrisome.

Kagari later blacked out from her injury.

Yomi stared at the girl in the blazer with the grey eyes. She was scribbling something down about her name, no doubt. Something glinted in her hands.

Mato's cell phone charm.

Yomi rushed over to the strange girl, memories flooding her thoughts.

"Before we leave, you need to leave something here to tether you to this world, or your body will be stuck here. And that won't be good for me. It'd weaken me. Is there anything useless that you have?"

Yomi thought for a second. "This." She pulled her cell phone charm off and tossed it into the grass angrily.

"Oh yeah, that token of your one-sided friendship with Mato. Good thing to get rid of. Anyway, let's go."

Yomi snatched the phone charm away from the girl. The girl didn't struggle. "I see that it belongs to you. Though it's odd that Dead Master would carry such a thing..."

Yomi did a double take. Did she say what she thought she said? "What?"

The girl just gave her an enigmatic smile and left the overlook, walking slowly away from the stairs. Shaken, Yomi stared at the little charm in her hand. Mato told her that the tether was how she reached the Otherworld. Yomi assumed the same tether could be used by multiple people. She willed herself to the Otherworld.

Nothing seemed to be happening. She called out to her other self.

_**"Dead Master?"**_

_**"Yes sweetie~?"  
"I need help. Take me in. Please. I need you."  
"Well, I already killed Chariot, but a little extra power might not hurt..."  
"I need a favour."  
**_  
The charm glowed brightly, blinding Yomi. The light seemed to flare completely white, then fade to a dull grey. They were standing in a field of crosses. A damp fog rose to Yomi's knees.

From below rose Dead Master. She grinned at Yomi, who blanched. Her stomach immediately felt like it was in knots. This thing before her gave off a powerful aura that frightened Yomi. Her scythe and horns gleamed wickedly. She licked her lips. **"What do you want?"  
**  
"To save Mato!" Yomi said with as much determination as she could muster.

Dead Master responded by laughing at her. **"Why in the world would you want to do that?"  
**  
Yomi was taken aback. Was her request really that ridiculous? Dead Master guffawed and giggled at her, making Yomi turn pink with shame.

**"Oh that's a good one! You want to rescue the girl that ignored you as a human being for a year and most recently attempted to kill you? She's still been ignoring you! Ha ha ha! She didn't even apologise to you in person!"** Dead Master wiped green tears from her eyes, still chuckling, **"She has to be the worst friend imaginable!"**

This made Yomi see red. Mato, despite her flaws, had always eventually come through for her. She had rescued her from the control of the monster in front of her, risking her life to do so. "Shut up! Mato's done nothing but tried to make me happy since my coming here! She risked her life to save me from you, you foul old hag!"

**"Old? I'm sixteen! Just like you! You shouldn't insult yourself, dear, people might think you have problems!"**she cackled with glee.

Yomi huffed and grabbed Dead Master's dress, pulling her towards her. "Let me rescue Mato. Right. Now."

The scythe came up to Yomi's neck. Yomi gulped as beads of sweat formed on her face.

**"Got a little fight in you. I like that."** She smirked and pulled Yomi closer**. "I'll help you, I guess. But you have to do something for me. Hm...well, I want to forge a proper connection. Are you willing to make a mental link to me? That means I can talk to you when I feel like it, not just when you're mentally weak."  
**  
Yomi nodded. "Yes. If it gets Mato back then yes."

**"Excellent. In you go~!"**Dead Master's body overlapped her own. There was a flash of green, then Yomi found herself nude in a greenish black sphere.

**"Happy?"**Dead Master's voice came.

"Not until I find Mato."

**"You're a fussy one, aren't you? I can sense her near here. Help me look."**

Yomi could now see what Dead Master saw, feeling more like Dead Master was controlling her body. It made her skin crawl. **"Oh stop squirming; you might throw off my control here. Stop fighting me. If we're going to share, we need to work together. This is your show, after all. I'm just running it so you don't get yourself killed. More importantly, me killed."  
**  
Yomi could see she was sitting on a throne of some sort, looking at a long hallway. It was the exact view she'd seen before. Black Rock Shooter had come through those doors on the far side.

Dead Master stretched and stood up, beckoning to her two skulls. **"Doku. Kuro. We've got an intruder in the house. Let's get 'em."** The two skulls floated behind her. "**Hm, let's go down."**Yomi scanned the area as Dead Master pushed open a green decorated door. A flight of stone stairs descended downwards. They walked down, Dead Master whistling to herself.

Yomi was apprehensive. With every motion that Dead Master made, it felt like she was being forced to too. She feared that Dead Master would take full control again and push Yomi back inside. They entered a checkered hallway that sloped gently downward. **"Your fear is delicious, Yomi, thank you."  
**  
The floor burst open, causing Yomi to flinch and run, dragging Dead Master along. **"Hey!"** Dead Master shouted, **"Give me control back!" **Dead Master forced them to turn around to see their adversary.

The outline of Black Rock Shooter could be seen through the dust. Her footsteps sounded heavy, and the floor cracked with each one.

**"See? Nothing to worry about, just Black Rock Shooter." **Dead Master smiled, also forcing Yomi to smile. Yomi shuddered violently at the sensation.

**"Okay, look. I know this is uncomfortable, but you have to stop flinching like a coward. It's going to ruin us if we have to fight. Besides, Dead Master doesn't flinch!"**

The dust cleared, revealing a Black Rock Shooter unfamiliar to both girls. Her eye flared purple, matching her eyes. Her hair looked like it had heavy amounts of static in it. Most shocking were her limbs. Her right arm seemed to be bonded to her Rock Cannon, though this weapon was twice its size and ended in a bayonet. Her left was bonded to an enormous blade. Her legs seemed to be either armour or metal, and she wore a chestplate of black metal. She looked furious. Scattered throughout her clothing were white xs.

**"Fuck,"** Dead Master said, **"We're going to run now!"**Yomi and Dead Master both willed their body to sprint, working together to run faster than anybody has before.

**"What happened to her?"**Yomi demanded. They ascended the stairs, an angry crashing sound coming from behind.

**"Other selves mainly subsist on emotions from their counterparts! Mato must have had too much emotional baggage for BRS to handle and it drove her insane! When anybody goes mad here, their powers overload their body and they get extremely powerful! We are screwed!"**She pushed open the door and ran back into the cathedral proper, heading for the exit.

Yomi stopped them. "No. I'm getting Mato back." Insane Black Rock Shooter smashed through the floor, opening fire on Dead Master.

* * *

_The girl hugged her knees in the indigo world, feeling lonely. While it was comfortable in this world, there wasn't much to do. She looked at her toes._

_She needed somebody to talk to. Occasionally the pretty girl floated into sight, but she was asleep. Whenever she tried to pull her from the haze, the red mist burnt her fingers. She was alone._

_She made another attempt to grab the other girl. Her hands were quickly burnt by the heat. She sucked them, trying to relieve the pain._

* * *

Dead Master quickly dodged a hail of bullets, smugly smirking as Doku and Kuro charged her. Yomi watched as both were beaten into the floor. The resulting shockwave from the impact threw Dead Master off her feet, slamming them into a wall. Surprisingly, Yomi didn't feel any pain. She willed Dead Master up again.

**"Thanks..."**her voice sounded shaken. They leaped into the air, quickly slashing at I. BRS's face. Painful gashes appeared in her face. Dead Master grinned and swung again.

Her blade was stopped by I. BRS's arm. Dead Master froze in shock before being tossed to the floor. stabbed her with her blade, globs of green blood splattering everywhere.

Yomi felt ill at the sensation of the blade pushing through her stomach. Although it didn't hurt, she knew it was wrong.

"IF YOU THROW UP I WILL KILL YOU!" came Dead Master's shout. Doku and Kuro slammed into I. BRS, preventing another blow to their master. Yomi got them up, with more difficulty. She felt weak and she could feel blood rushing out of their wounded stomach.

I. BRS threw one of the skulls off her and fired at it. It exploded in a spectacular fashion, though unlike last time, a green acid spattered on I. BRS's skin, burning it.

**"New trick I added."**Dead Master smiled weakly at the sight. I. BRS roared in pain. Yomi felt a sudden fear. Was this all hurting Mato?

**"No it's not. I'm the one taking your pain right now. You're welcome. Being stabbed fucking hurts."  
**  
Yomi called out, "Mato! If you're in there, I'm sorry!"

* * *

_The nude girl felt a sudden pain in her face. She screamed in agony. Her skin was unbroken, but it felt like it was being torn open. The indigo of the world became tinted with red veins as she screamed, the haze getting thicker._

_A worse agony followed. Her entire body felt like it was being consumed in fire. She twitched, her eyes wide open. The pain was unbearable. She curled into a ball and cried and screamed, everything being too much. She willed death upon herself. This world was nothing but pain. The little sphere she was in blurred as she felt herself slipping. Every tiny movement made the pain worse. She wanted it to stop._

_Out of nowhere, a voice called._

_**"Mato!"**_

_Mato. That sounded awfully familiar. The pain subsided, leaving her weeping. She submerged herself in the purple fog, its icyness soothing her pain. The sound of the voice became fuzzy. After she was shivering and teeth chattering, she moved back into the clear air, pondering the word, "Mato"._

_She didn't quite recognise it. Was it from a different language? Perhaps. It sounded strangely familiar._

* * *

"Mato!" Yomi cried again and again, "I'm sorry!"

The weapon that I. BRS was carrying became a Gatling gun. The bullets slammed into their body, forcing them to the floor in a bloody mess.

* * *

_The girl heard the word a few more times. It seemed to be calling out to her. The girl decided it was a name, after some thought. She wiped her eyes._

_"My name is Mato," she said. It was a pretty name._


	10. Reflections in the mirror

**[A/N] Last we left our heroine, she was in BRS's conscious, taking the pain of wounds dealt to Insane Black Rock Shooter, unbeknownst to her rescuers, Dead Master and Yomi Takanashi. Meanwhile, Nana Myounashi continues writing her observations. But why? What is the true nature of these observations?**

Observations were coming together quite nicely this week. Nana flipped to a special page in the back of her notebook. "Appendix" was written in flowing script. The page contained only a list of names.

She scanned the list until she came to the name Dead Master. Smiling, she wrote "Yomi Takanashi" next to the name, adding a brief description:

"Green eyes, brown hair, elegant, tall, speaks with a very faint Western accent."

She looked to the other names. They were all blank, except two. Black Rock Shooter read "Crying pigtail girl" and the characters for nameless. Death Scythe also the characters for nameless next to it.

She smiled.

**BLACK ROCK SHOOTER X  
Reflections in the mirror.  
**  
_Mato was taking a nap. She was tired from the pain she'd somehow endured. She lay on her side in midair, closing her eyes._

_She had an odd dream that she was playing a weird sport with an orange ball. She bounced the ball off the floor, running past several other girls, who seemed to be wearing hoods, and tossed the ball into a ring above._

* * *

Yomi picked Dead Master's body off the floor, dripping in green blood. Dead Master's consciousness was silent, and worst of all, seemed to have stopped trying to control their body, leaving Yomi in charge.

I. BRS charged at Yomi, who instinctively dove out of the way, sliding across the floor and leaving a streak of emerald blood on the checkered floor. The floor cracked and a massive hole opened up, swallowing I. BRS and Dead Master. Yomi screamed as they fell, rubble surrounding them.

I. BRS sprung nimbly from stone to stone, finally slicing at Dead Master. Yomi felt a biting pain in her side. She gasped slightly and pathetically swung her scythe at her adversary, barely nicking her side.

* * *

_Mato woke up, an uncomfortable itching in her side. She sat up to see the other girl float by again. She reached into the haze, but once again her hands were burnt by the red fog. She cried, bitterly disappointed she couldn't reach the other girl._

* * *

Yomi felt Dead Master's presence return after I. BRS threw them into the floor below. Yomi's back felt like it was on fire.

**"Sorry, birdie, passed out a little from the pain. Let me take that for y—shit! Ow!"  
**  
The pain Yomi felt vanished. "**Did you get our back broken?"**Dead Master demanded. I. BRS landed on top of them, pushing the air out of their lungs. With a snarl, she pointed the enormous weapon at their head.

* * *

The next day Yomi was reported missing. Yuu felt her heart snap when she heard the news. She was alone.

The day was dreadfully dull. She found herself several times during the day worrying that Yomi and Mato wouldn't come back. Why did they have to always disappear as a pair?

She sighed, getting up from her desk. It was the end of the day. She was ready to go to basketball practice, without Mato by her side. The team was looking good, but she worried that it wouldn't be enough. The game was in two days. What if—

A dark-haired girl bumped into her, causing her to drop all her books. "Watch where you're going!" she told Yuu. Yuu apologised and picked up their books.

The dark-haired girl paused. "What is your name?" she asked Yuu.

"Koutari," Yuu said in a clipped tone. She was going to be late.

"Spell it," the girl said, her voice commanding.

"Kami-ashi." Yuu left the girl behind without another word. The shadows cast in the hall grew longer.

* * *

"Koutari," Nana sorted through her books. Koutari was without any doubt, Strength. She went for her notebook, only to find it missing.

Puzzled, she looked through her things again. It did not appear. It finally dawned on her that Koutari had accidentally taken her notebook. She was out of sight. Nana screamed.

* * *

_Strength roamed the plains alone, a thick mist filling the world around her. She thought about the alliances that she had made with Black Gold Saw and Geshumaru. They were constantly battling in a bitter struggle. But for what purpose, she could not tell._

_Naturally, she aligned herself with both of them as to remain neutral. If both would help her, that worked just fine._

_A figure appeared out of the mist. She wore a black and white school uniform, complete with black blazer and tie. Her eyes were a dark grey and her skin was like porcelain. She carried an enormous scythe, with a few skulls tied to the end._

_Death Scythe. Strength was cautious of this one. The girl approached slowly. A sudden wave of shadow appeared behind her, with tortured faces materialising, moaning, "Who are you?" endlessly._

_Reasonably spooked, Strength pointed her fingers at her, firing missiles at her. Every one hit its mark, with no attempt from Death Scythe to evade them._

* * *

Dead Master sliced mercilessly at I. BRS's stomach, unable to faze her. She stood there like her wounds were nothing, not moving the weapon.

Yomi had an idea. She made Dead Master generate chains behind I. BRS, then yanked at her left arm. It pulled her away.

**"Good work, little bird. Get us up."**Yomi jumped up, unsteady on her legs. The chain kept yanking on I. BRS's blade arm. Dead Master smirked and tightened her grip as Insane Black Rock Shooter struggled to get free.

There was a disgusting snap as the arm was completely ripped off. I. BRS opened fire, her violet flame growing. She screamed in rage.

* * *

_Mato's eyes snapped open. Her shoulder exploded with pain as she screamed, the world becoming a blurry mess. Her hair hung limply in her face as the world filled with angry red flashes. Her vision tinted with red._

_She wanted to die. She didn't know anything but pain and suffering. Her shoulder screamed out, every cell a unit of agony. She needed to get rid of the pain in her shoulder, to push it away. She clutched her shoulder, inadvertently floating into the red haze._

_She screamed as the haze seared her body, ravaging her skin in waves of heat. She couldn't see or hear. The only thing that existed was pain. She flailed and grasped something, needing anything for support._

* * *

Yomi got Dead Master up, their body now riddled with bullet holes. I. BRS's firing ceased. Dead Master and Yomi looked confusedly at her. I. BRS's eye flared and she crashed through the floor, disappearing.

"We have to go after her!" Yomi shouted.

**"Maybe...we should...rest for a bit..."** Dead Master replied, slumping to the floor, **"She's going to rest and so should we. We need a plan."  
**

* * *

Yuu stared at the notebook on the kitchen table. Clearly that weird girl had dropped it. She flipped through its pages, unable to make sense of any of the random sentences and sketches inside. Most involved the writer (presumably the girl) asserting things because she said so.

There was a lot of talk of reflections and doubles. Some of the characters were written backwards, making interpreting the book difficult.

The sketches seemed to be of girls, for the most part; a few of them were weapons or odd symbols. One drawing caught her eye. It seemed to be a drawing of Yomi, wearing an elegant dress and holding a scythe. There were two horns on her head. The image was labelled "Dead Master". Unsure what to make of this, Yuu flipped to the end, where there was an appendix.

In two columns there was a list of nonsense on the left and mostly empty cells on the right. However, there was one cell that caught Yuu's attention.

"Yomi Takanashi" corresponded to Dead Master. Another, "crying pigtail girl", which could have been Mato, corresponded to Black Rock Shooter.

Yuu quickly skimmed until she found a drawing with that name. It was a girl that looked similar to Mato, pigtails and all, perfectly sketched on the page.

Feeling creeped out, Yuu flipped back to the first page. "This book belongs to 'no-name'" The characters for no name were written backwards next to the originals. A small mirror was glued to the inside of the cover. Yuu shivered, feeling disturbed, and wondering why Yomi's name was inside.

* * *

_Death Scythe staggered to her feet, grey blood leaking from her body. A wave of shadow rushed from her body at Strength, chilling her to her very heart._

_Death Scythe had vanished when the shadows cleared._

* * *

"Explain what happened to Mato," Yomi asked as they rested on the floor.

Dead Master paused. **"I'm going to let you out of me for a bit, alright? Easier to talk that way."  
**  
Yomi felt the world disappear before she suddenly saw Dead Master, looking terrible indeed. Her face was horribly sliced and blood flowed freely from several open wounds. She slouched and coughed up some blood. Yomi gasped slightly at the sight.

**"Stop looking so scared, I'll be fine,"** Dead Master snapped, "**It appears that your friend Mato's emotions have taken control of Black Rock Shooter's body. This is rare, because normally your emotions are what keep us healthy. When I took you in two years ago, your anger and hate and pain empowered me. It invigorated me. But it looks like Mato's broke BRS."**

Yomi gave her a confused look, "How come Mato's broke BRS but you stayed sane?"

Dead Master thought for a minute. **"Describe Mato."**

Yomi smiled, "She's so nice. She always tries to cheer me and Yuu up. She's almost always excited and happy. Come to think of it, I've never seen her truly angry, just annoyed...she's caring and she watches out for me..." A tear rolled down Yomi's cheek, "And I abandoned her."

Dead Master frowned, **"Shh. There there. Don't cry. I hate the sound of crying."** Yomi wiped her eyes and gave Dead Master her attention again. **"Mato isn't a person that seems to feel pain or grief easily, which is why you came to me and why she probably went to BRS. While glorious me was used to sadness and anger from you after moving around so much, not fitting in, losing friends, losing sleep from time zones, Black Rock Shooter is not used to taking those kinds of feelings. If I had to guess, BRS was overwhelmed by the uncommon negative emotions from whatever you did to her...kissing that blonde bitch...right?"  
**  
Yomi nodded, turning pink with shame. She looked at the floor, remembering how foolish she was to avoid Mato to befriend that lunatic.

**"Anyway,"** Dead Master continued, **"Her emotions overran BRS and took over."**

Yomi frowned, "Is there any way to get her separated from BRS?"

**"Let's see...well...when I had you the first time...Mato and BRS came and...hugged...me..."** Dead Master twitched slightly at the thought, **"And the act of affection showed you that they cared...so you were emotionally strong enough to overpower me...and I was turned into vapour because you cut me off from you. So thanks."  
**  
"Sorry..." Yomi said unhappily. She had hurt Mato enough to make her angry. Angry enough to destroy BRS's mind. And if the way Insane Black Rock Shooter fought was any indication of how upset she was, then it was in a major way. "C-could we hug BRS? Let Mato know I'm here?"

Dead Master gave her a look, **"That's extremely dangerous and if it doesn't work, which it probably won't, we could very well die."  
**  
"Why wouldn't it work?"

**"When someone goes mad, their psyche becomes splattered everywhere. Her mind could be damaged severely and she might not recognise you. She could be in a mental coma, or BRS might be as well, hence the lack of resistance. The pain you caused also could make it hard for her to hear you or want to go back. A lot of things can go wrong."**

"We have to try," Yomi said, "I'd do anything to have Mato back. I lo—um...need her." Yomi blushed. Dead Master rolled her eyes. **"Back in you go."**

Yomi found herself naked in the green sphere again.

**"There's some business to deal with."**


	11. Black love

**[A/N] Last we left our heroine, she was still imprisoned by Insane Black Rock Shooter, the pain of the warrior's injuries forced upon her. Meanwhile, Yomi and Dead Master continue their fight. Yuu has received a mysterious notebook on accident in their absence. The battle continues…**

* * *

Insane Black Rock Shooter looked at the stump of her left arm, mildly amused at the gushing of blood from it. She was going to murder that Yomi Takanashi for hurting her. Her flame flared high, as if in agreement. Yomi Takanashi would pay. Pay dearly.

**BLACK ROCK SHOOTER XI  
Black love.**

The ground rumbled beneath Dead Master's feet, shaking dust from the ceiling. Yomi was safely within her. Dead Master decided to give her a mental breather. She stood with her scythe at the ready, her remaining skull, Kuro, joining her by her side.

The ground burst open, revealing I. BRS, still missing her arm, followed by several chains. Dead Master raised her eyebrows in surprise. She thought she was the only one with mastery of chains.

Dead Master charged, her wounds having mostly healed during their respite. She ran along the walls, dodging the barrage of bullets fired at her. She sliced at I. BRS's stomach, leaving a wide gash. Kuro slammed into her chest, cracking the black chestplate. Some purple blood ran from the bottom of it, suggesting shrapnel puncturing her chest. Dead Master smiled. Her adversary had not recovered from her wounds, but she had.

She slashed again and again, purple blood splashing over her and the stones. I. BRS's stomach was a mess of blood and gore. Yet she remained standing, not even faltering. Dead Master got a strong smash in the side from the cannon. She slid across the floor, bouncing in the dirt.

Kuro charged again, smashing into Insane Black Rock Shooter's head. She reeled backwards slightly, then smashed the skull, causing it to explode. A black cloud surrounded I. BRS, debris from the skull cutting into her. Her eye ignited the smoke, causing it to burst into turquoise flame.

Dead Master looked up from the floor and smirked at the sight of the burning I. BRS. "What's happening?" Yomi's voice came.

**"Just set her on fire. She should be weak enough to give her whatever cuddling your heart desires, my little lovebird."**

"...Can I see...?"

**"Trust me, you don't want to."  
**  
The figure of I. BRS was obscured by smoke and flame, only the tip of her violet flare visible. The fire began to fade. Dead Master looked at the smoke expectantly, waiting to see I. BRS fall to the floor, writhing in pain.

The smoke cleared, and instead I. BRS was still standing, her face not showing any sign of pain. Her purple flame pulsed with flame.

Dead Master cursed to herself. Why wasn't she incapacitated? Her skin looked horribly charred and blackened.

"What's going on?" Yomi asked again, "Can I hug her yet...?"

**"Mato's taking all the pain."**

* * *

_In her little world, Mato was battered and subjected to horrific pain after pain. Her stomach had been attacked, her breasts subjected to stabbing pains and her skin felt like it had been boiled off. She sat in her little sphere, now a midnight purple, and cried. She curled herself in as tight a ball as she could, wishing the pain would stop._

_She looked at the other nude girl that she had accidentally pulled out of the haze after her shoulder started hurting. Her eyes were blue, like Mato's and they were wide open. The girl seemed to be unconscious or dead. Mato wondered if she'd die there. She cried bitterly, wanting to leave this world. She used the indigo mist several times to numb her skin from the pain, each time coming up shivering._

* * *

Nana sat in her bedroom, panicking. She needed to record her observations somehow, and Koutari in the Appendix. Worse, she was calling out to herself, wounded. She had been attacked by Strength. It was almost as if she was trying to evade identification.

An idea struck. There was only one place more important than her notebook that this information could written with dignity. Herself.

She went to her desk and grabbed a pen, putting her left hand in front of her. She neatly wrote "Koutari=Strength" backwards, despite the uncomfortable scratching of the pen's tip on her skin. She wrote the rest of the day's observations on her left arm and stomach, pulling her shirt down and sleeves to conceal her writings. She wrote one observation on her left foot.

"Pain can have control over anything, it seems. Pain is king."

* * *

"What?" Yomi shrieked, "We're hurting Mato? We tore off her arm! We set her on fire!" Her voice was hysterical.

**"Yes, regrettably, Mato probably feels like dying about now. Poor thing. However, we can't not fight! We'll be killed!" **

"Let me take the pain," Yomi said, "It's only fair."

**"But—"  
**  
"Let me do it."

Dead Master shifted the pain to Yomi, which was met by shrieks of pain. "**Still want it?"**she asked, keeping her eye on I. BRS, who was slowly advancing.

"Y-yes..."

**"Very well."**Dead Master sent chains to tangle I. BRS up, raising her scythe.

* * *

_Mato tried to awaken the other girl, but to no avail. She was utterly alone. The world seemed to be getting darker. She was scared. Scared to be consumed and scared to be hurt again. Her skin was unblemished, but it still burned in some places. Her shoulder still throbbed painfully._

_"Help," she whispered to nobody._

* * *

Yuu stretched and changed into her nightclothes, feeling lonely. She glanced at the notebook she left on her desk, unsure of what to make of it.

She sat down at the desk and pushed the notebook aside, grabbing a binder labelled, "Roster." Flipping through the pages, there were logs of each player's status, made about once a week. Each had their photo clipped to them. Most seemed to be in good shape.

The last page had a picture of Mato. Unlike the other images where the players posed, Mato's picture was taken while playing a game.

_**"What am I standing around for? What does my face tell you? Take a picture that shows you what I can do!"  
**_  
The image was a close-up of her making her first dunk. Yuu looked at the page. The status of this week listed her as, "Absent due to unusual circumstances." Kohata had scribbled, "Freaking missing," next to this, with a sad face.

Yuu sighed and turned to the administration section. She glanced at Arata Kohata's page. Above her name was "Super Cool Coach Kohatchi". Despite her melancholy, Yuu smirked at the title. Her own page had "Super Manager" written on it, scribbled in Mato's childish handwriting.

Yuu looked at her status. "Heavy stress, consider taking this week off." Kohata's comment was, "Yuu, you work harder than me. Take a break or I'll look bad!" Yuu frowned. She couldn't rest. The team needed her, and her only, what with the incident two weeks ago.

She flipped to the section labelled, "Other important people". This mostly contained friends and family of the team to contact should things go wrong. Yomi was listed as, "Close friend of Mato," with Kohata's dry remark, "Whatever happens to her happens to Mato, so keep an eye on both of them."

Yuu tore out Ayame's page and crumpled it, tossing it in the wastebasket. She huffed and shut the binder, her attention drawn back to the notebook.

She wondered if any of those girls looked like her. She scanned the pages before finding two that looked vaguely like her. One was captioned, "Unknown," and she wore a dark dress with a hammer for one arm and an axe for another, both ridiculously oversized. The other was listed as "Strength", who wore a hood and had two enormous metallic hands, along with a metal tail.

Yuu didn't think she liked either of them. She figured the artist must have created these odd characters by modelling them off real people. She shrugged, curious as to when she'd ever seen this girl. Things were getting too surreal lately.

Yuu yawned and rested her head on the desk, closing her eyes.

* * *

Insane Black Rock Shooter and Dead Master threw chains at each other, trying to suffocate each other. Both sustained terrible wounds, their blood forming coloured puddles on the floor. The hallway was extremely battered and looked unstable. Dead Master's onslaught was unable to be deterred; with no pain, she was able to stand up and fight with no hesitation.

Meanwhile, Yomi curled into a ball and continually wiped tears from her eyes as points of pain erupted all over body constantly. She sobbed but forced herself not to scream. She was doing this for Mato.

Outside, Dead Master hacked at her adversary's legs, trying to slice them off or damage them so I. BRS couldn't stand. Despite repeatedly getting batted away, Dead Master finally severed something important, because I. BRS buckled to her knees. She fired once more, blowing Dead Master back yet again.

* * *

Nana padded downstairs in her nightgown, yawning. The other children from her section greeted her halfheartedly. Nana ignored them and sat at the cantine table away from them. She looked disdainfully at the napkins, which had printed on them, "Izuriha Sanctuary for the Mentally Unstable".

"What's on your foot?" one of the attendants asked her.

"Nothing. Go away." Nana glared at the attendant, who wisely backed off. If only her reflection was here! Then she would be free. The only satisfaction she'd had from being there was hearing that the bastard who owned the place's daughter had an accident and was in the hospital with a concussion. The daughter looked familiar though. She'd need to have her notebook and the daughter there to confirm, though.

She took out a pen and made a note to herself on her thigh to do that.

* * *

_Mato shook the unconscious girl again, wincing as pain kept returning to lash at her body, tears running down her face._

_"Wake up!"_

* * *

"Give me control," Yomi said "I need to bring Mato back myself."

"If you insist. Less work for me." Yomi was suddenly in control, holding a scythe as she looked down at the mess of blood that was I. BRS.

Hesitantly, she wrapped her arms around the being, the warm stickiness of violet blood wiping on her. She pulled her tightly to her. "I'm sorry, Mato. Come home. Stop fighting me."

* * *

_**"I'm sorry, Mato. Come home. Stop fighting me."**_ _The voice came. Mato stopped, her body still paining terribly. There was a pleasantly warm feeling for the first time in a while, making her sphere wider._

* * *

"Mato Kuroi...Black Rock Shooter...come home...!" Yomi shouted, hugging her tighter, ignoring the unpleasant sensation of blood on her skin.

* * *

_The girl's eyes widened. Mato Kuroi. She was Mato Kuroi! Her memories flooded back. How she ended up in this place, what Yomi had done, how upset she was..._

_**"Mato! Please!"**__Yomi's voice surrounded her._

_"Yomi! Get me out of here! It hurts!" Tears came to her eyes. Yomi had come to rescue her. "I love you!" she shouted. The red haze dispersed further._

_The other girl's eyes opened. She blinked, her long black hair getting in her face. Mato recognised her immediately. "Black Rock Shooter!" Mato hugged her, causing her shoulder to ache. She winced and looked at BRS with a pained expression._

_**"Shh, I'll take the pain away."**Mato felt her pain ebb away as BRS grunted slightly, shaking._

_"What's happening? Why are you here with me?" Mato asked fearfully, her eyes wide and anxious._

_**"I don't know...something's happened."**_

_"I hear Yomi! She came to get me!" Mato was crying and shaking BRS, "She wants me around!"_

_BRS smiled at her other self. "_

_**We're a bit trapped...it seems..."**Her speech was slow and laboured._

_Mato frowned. "We need to get out! Yomi! Yomi!" she called. The answers got fuzzier until her voice vanished._

* * *

I. BRS just stared at Yomi, her flame flickering. It went out for a brief few seconds, then came back in full force.

I. BRS lunged forward suddenly, taking Yomi by surprise, and ran her through with the point of her weapon. Yomi gasped as green blood sprayed from her wound, the pain spreading through her body. Green tears ran down her face as she went down. She had failed.

"I'm sorry...Mato." She crumpled to the floor in a heap.


	12. True love

**[A/N] And now, the thrilling conclusion of the Battle of Dead Master.**

* * *

Green blood splashed on the smooth checkered stone. The dark mass hit the floor, writhing and crying. A gun barrel was pointed at its head.

There was a sharp bang, followed by silence.

**BRS XII  
True love.**

Nana winced slightly as the pen dug into her back. She held a small hand mirror and turned her back to the bathroom mirror. By looking in the small mirror, she could see what she was writing on her skin. She had run out of space on her thighs, arm, stomach and feet, and she was reluctant to write on her calves, as someone would see. She carefully wrote each observation on the smooth skin of her back, gritting her teeth as the pen dragged across her skin.

When she finished, she waited a few minutes for the ink to dry, then put on a bra and shirt, getting ready for school.

She left her bathroom, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Yawning slightly, she walked down the hallway, headed for the elevator. The living quarters of the place were set up not entirely like a hotel. Each tenant had a suite and a "section" that comprised of all the kids on the floor.

The elevator was quiet. She mulled over her plans for that day. She was going to retrieve her notebook from Koutari, write down her observations, then use the distraction of Izuriha's daughter in the hospital to make her escape.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror of the elevator. "Hey, De-chan. What's happening with Dead and Rock? Have they destroyed each other yet?"

_**"I cannot feel either of them."**_

"Shame, that Yomi girl was pretty."

* * *

Yuu was in class, leafing through the notebook out of boredom. After she passed "I DO NOT EXIST" for the third time, she decided to look at the sketches more closely again. She played with her hair, looking closely at a picture of "Ninja Zero Two". The girl wore an elegant dress, but seemed to have two clawed hands. The book was so strange. There did seem to be something off with the girl she'd got it from...

Later that day, she met Kohata during lunch. The girl looked troubled. "Team's low in morale," she informed Yuu, "Kuroi is still a no-show, I assume?"

Yuu nodded, a deep frown etched in her face. Her eyes hurt. She had gotten little sleep the previous night.

Kohata gave Yuu a hug. "Cheer up, Super Manager. We still have a fantastic team and we can still win. These girls are the best of the best." Yuu's expression didn't change much. Kohata let go of Yuu, "I know Mato and you are good friends. She has a way of finding her way back. She'll be okay. I promise."

Yuu nodded quietly and turned away from Kohata, tears running down her face.

* * *

Kagari woke up. The sunlight weakly shined into her room, barely making it through overcast skies. The light was grey and grim. Her hair was in her face, a rat's nest of tangled hair. She pushed it out of her face. Her head hurt.

There were no flowers or candy for her. She sighed and stretched, ready to get out of bed. As soon as she put any weight on her legs, they buckled beneath her, sending her falling towards the floor. She growled in frustration and slowly climbed back into bed, pouting.

The hospital room smelled faintly chemical, making her nostrils burn. She looked for any sign that Yomi had been there. There was none to be found. Her head pounded painfully as she slumped back into bed, grinding her teeth slightly in annoyance.

Yomi's mother came in a little later. "My daughter went missing after you sliced open her shoulder," she said in a low, threatening voice, "Where did Yomi go?"

Kagari stared at the angry woman in front of her, an idea popping into her head. "Who's Yomi?" Kagari asked.

"You...you don't remember...?" Kagari shook her head. "You're sure...?" Kagari nodded, an innocent and confused frown on her lips. The woman frowned and slammed the door.

Kagari smirked. Perfect.

* * *

Yomi gasped on the floor, blood covering her stomach in a puddle of green liquid. Her stomach felt like a tiger had mauled it. There had been a shot right to her head, she was sure of it! She and Dead Master should have perished. She sat up and realised that she was no longer in her other self's body.

Dead Master's body was a few feet away from her, not moving. Insane Black Rock Shooter remained mostly incapacitated, it seemed. Yomi remained still, watching the powerful fighter try to stand. She carefully crept over to Dead Master to see that the gun's trajectory was altered so the shot had just missed. Insane hadn't seemed to have noticed. Her behaviour and motion had started to become irregular.

Insane's violet flame flickered and change colours from blue to red and then back to violet. Something was happening. Her body jerked around as she tried to point the weapon at Dead Master's head, never quite making it before her arm twitched and the aim was thrown off. Yomi took this opportunity to drag Dead Master further away.

This attracted Insane's interest. Yomi backed away as she saw Insane struggling to aim at her, grabbing Dead Master. The mighty warrior still faltered as her arm twitched and the rest of her body shook in effort.

Yomi dragged her counterpart even further away, finding an indent in the wall to take refuge in and watch as the insane fighter seemed to start convulsing. What was going on?

* * *

_Mato struggled to gain control of Black Rock Shooter's body, with Black Rock Shooter by her side. Mato and BRS ventured into the red haze, the haze burning and hurting BRS as it had Mato before. It was here that Mato seemed to be able to maintain the most influence, forcing herself to the front for a brief few moments before being pushed back down by Insane Black Rock Shooter. It was enough to keep Yomi safe, and each time Mato saw Yomi's face during the second or two of control she gained, a great elation filled her._

_She was surprised and happy that Yomi had even come at all. She figured Kagari was more important. The knowledge that Yomi was risking her life for her gave her the strength to persist._

_However, Black Rock Shooter was rapidly weakening. The haze was taking its toll on her, and while she was not screaming in pain, she gasped and twitched slightly as the red vapour burned her skin. She wouldn't last much longer._

* * *

"KOUTARI!" a hand clawed her shoulder, making Yuu jump. She whirled around to see the odd, grey-eyed girl she'd bumped into yesterday. It was the last practice before the game, and it looked like this girl had somehow crashed it.

"GIVE. ME. MY. NOTEBOOK!" she roared at Yuu, making Yuu flinch slightly. She gave Yuu the dirtiest look she could, grabbing her tighter so she couldn't escape. The notebook was definitely hers, then. Yuu wasn't ready to part with it yet, however. There seemed to be a kind of hidden meaning to all the madness recorded in that thing. She thought quickly, thinking of any excuse she could to not give it back.

"I...uh...I gave it to...uh...Kagari! Kagari Izuriha. I think she's sick, though. She was in the hospital when I gave it to her." Yuu somehow managed to keep her voice level, despite this girl's icy glare creeping her out. She hoped it was convincing.

The girl growled in anger. "The Izuriha brat has it? I mustn't let it get to her father...!" the girl rushed from the gym.

Yuu sighed in relief and patted her bag, the strange scribblings safe there.

* * *

Dead Master remained silent when Yomi tried to talk to her with her mind. Fearing the worst, she grabbed Dead Master's wrist to check for a pulse. There was none.

Yomi felt hot tears roll down her face, resentful that Insane Black Rock Shooter had done this to her other self, and a little angry at Dead Master for leaving her behind. While Dead Master certainly hadn't treated her well in the past, she was a part of Yomi. A part of Yomi that had died.

She clenched her fists. Why did this have to happen to her and Mato? Why did she have to fail?

A sharp clicking made Yomi jump. The ruined body of Insane Black Rock Shooter came into view, barely managing to stand on her wrecked legs. Close up, she looked worse. Her skin was a mix of red and black, with barely any unscathed patches of white at all. Many severe lacerations covered her body, all leaking purple blood. Her violet eyes were dull, and the flame kept sputtering. The bloody stump where her arm used to be was raw and painful looking. The Lance Cannon fused to her arm was pointed right at Yomi. In this indent, Yomi had no escape. If she was shot here, her wounds would not heal. She would die.

Pressing her back to the wall in fear, Yomi stared into the eyes of the monster before her. "Please..." she said, "Mato...I'm sorry for doing this to you. I'm sorry. I regret it. Please don't...don't let it end this way..." Yomi shook in fear, unable to help it. Cold sweat ran down her face, creating small lines in the grime. "Mato..."

* * *

_Mato was back in the safety of the now-black sphere, Black Rock Shooter unable to take being in the burning mist anymore. She knew what she had to do. She drifted into the mist herself, leaving BRS behind to rest._

_The mist burned and scalded her skin, forcing tears to leak out of her eyes. It was unbearable. She screamed, doing whatever she could to take back control of Insane's body. It was her only escape. She kept getting brief flashes of Insane's vision before being thrown back into the pain._

_Yomi's voice came quietly._

_**"Mato...I'm sorry for doing this to you. I'm sorry. I regret it. Please don't...don't let it end this way..."**__ The pain of the mist seemed to lessen, if just for that brief moment. "Yomi! I'm coming!" Mato shouted, forcing herself to the front one more time.  
_  
The world came into blurry focus as Mato saw Yomi at the end of her right arm, shaking. Shocked, Mato forced her arm down, pointing the weapon away. Within her body she felt Insane trying valiantly to aim once more. Mato pushed the arm down, feeling it get sore as the muscles were clenched.

**"Yomi! I'm glad you came,"**Mato said through Insane's lips. Yomi's eyes widened.

"M-mato..." she said weakly, "If you're going to kill me...I just want you to know...that..." Mato strained to keep the weapon in place, her arm getting tired.

**"Yomi, I'd never hurt you. I..."**

"I..." Yomi began, eyeing the weapon fearfully. "I love you!"

**"I love you,"**Mato said at the same time.

The struggle for control of the arm ceased. It hit the floor with a thud, cracking it. Violet tears ran down Mato's face. **"I'm sorry for all the times I hurt you..."**

Yomi approached her in one fluid motion, and pressed her lips to Mato's.

* * *

_In the dark sphere, the scalded body of Black Rock Shooter smiled. The little world's dark colour brightened once more, fading to a soft blue. The angry red mist thinned until it was completely gone. The same with the purple fog. There was only a soft green stream of elegant light, wrapping around BRS, healing her wounds and soothing her pain._

_Forgiveness._

* * *

Yomi pulled away from Black Rock Shooter/Mato, a flush colouring her cheeks. There was a gentle light and Mato, finally separated from Insane, stood before her. She threw her arms around Yomi, a smile on her face.

Insane Black Rock Shooter crashed to the floor, unable to stand anymore. Mato released Yomi and shook the fallen warrior. "BRS?" The girl didn't stir. "Wake up! BRS?" Mato's joy turned into a panic. The dark haired fighter didn't move.

Yomi hugged Mato. "Dead Master didn't make it either..."

**"...I...did..."** came a weak sound from the floor. Yomi jumped, letting go of Mato. Dead Master's body twitched, **"I'm barely alive and BRS's body is ruined...let us live in...you two for a bit...just until we get our strength back up..."**Dead Master's mouth opened as she spit up some blood.

"Thank you," Yomi said, "You can share with me." Mato nodded in agreement.

Yomi felt a weak presence in the back of her mind. Mato shivered slightly as BRS took up residence in her subconscious. Yomi gave the shorter girl a wide grin. It was over.

**[A/N] And that's the end of the Insane arc. See you tomorrow! Also, does anybody know where I can find a translation of the Dragon Slayer images in PICFIVE? I am really quite curious. If not, I will translate them myself. I have transcribed the characters already.**

Yomi and Mato found themselves back at their secret spot again, the sun setting. The orange light cast long shadows and highlighted the features of their faces.

"U-um. So you love me too..." Mato said, turning bright red, "I-I'm glad. Do you think...that...we can go out?"

"Yes, Mato. We can," Yomi answered without hesitation. Mato squealed happily and hugged Yomi tight, planting a kiss on her lips. It lasted a while, seemingly for hours as they stayed just like that, a light breeze blowing through the trees as their lips remained in contact. Mato gently pulled back.

"I'm exhausted," she said, "Let's just rest..." She and Yomi went under a nearby tree, the sun disappearing below the horizon. They fell asleep together, leaning on each other, as the first stars appeared in the sky.


	13. The notebook from nobody

**[A/N] Here begins an interim arc. I'm sorry for no Otherworld stuff in this chapter! It's coming, I promise.**

* * *

The girl with pigtails raced across the court, dribbling the ball up and down, scoring basket after basket. Her team led, but only by a small margin. The other team had a star player themselves. Raira Kaminari.

A worthy rival to Mato Kuroi.

**BLACK ROCK SHOOTER XIII  
The notebook from nobody.  
**  
Mato had walked into the gym that morning, with Yomi accompanying her. After getting an earful of shouting from Kohata, she crammed in as much practice as she could before the game. It was now the third period, and Mato's team was up by six.

Every basket that Mato seemed to make, Raira got the rebound and matched it. She was a tall girl, with long black hair that was currently tied up. Her eyes were a honey colour, like Yuu's.

Raira dribbled up the court, rushing past Mato and the defence, making a quick shot. It went in perfectly. Kohata groaned as she watched her score. She huffed. "Matagi! Get your head in the game and stop Kaminari from getting close!" A small defender nodded.

Mato passed the ball to Kohata's other forward, Reiko. The buzzer rang as she scored. Kohata clapped. "That's what we need to keep up!"

Raira seized the ball. Kohata shouted at Matagi, a recent addition to the team, a rather timid player. Still, Kohata scared her more than any player on that court, and the small girl seized the ball out of Raira's hands and threw it at Mato. Mato promptly scored just before the period ended.

She moved towards the bench. Kohata watched the little pigtailed girl chat excitedly with Yuu and give Matagi a few words of encouragement. Kohata wondered where she had gone. Unwilling to upset Mato during the game, she remained reserved, despite her curiosity.

The final period began, Mato rushing onto the court. She aggressively gained control of the ball and scored a basket. Mato stole the ball from Raira effortlessly and scored another basket, putting Mato's team up by twelve.

Raira grabbed the ball and slammed Mato out of her way, knocking her onto the wood. There was no call. Raira made a three pointer. Kohata stormed over to a referee on the sidelines and gestured at Mato pulling herself off the floor. "She was fouled!" The referee gave her a funny look and told her to sit down. Kohata trudged back to her bench and angrily glared at this new girl. Who the hell did she think she was?

This happened two more times to Mato. The game was now only a four point game. Kohata rushed over to the ref. "ARE YOU _BLIND_?"

Kohata huffily stomped back to her seat after being threatened to be kicked out of the game. "This stinks," she muttered to herself. "Ace! Don't let yourself get smacked around! The refs refuse to call anything!"

Mato nodded to show she understood, then ran towards the basket, Raira coming in once more. At the last second, she sidestepped Raira as the taller girl tried to run her over. Raira tripped over herself slightly, making her stumble and nearly fall. Kohata smirked as Mato passed to Reiko and she scored a three pointer.

Raira knocked Mato over as she rushed to grab the ball. The smaller girl jumped up, an indignant look on her face, and she shoved her rival aside, knocking her to the floor. Luckily there was no call. Kohata rolled her eyes slightly at the incompetence of the referees. "Let's keep it clean, okay Mato?" Mato grabbed the ball and made a layup as the final buzzer rang.

"Phew," she sighed in relief. They were going to the finals. She smiled as the players formed a crowd in the middle of the court. Yuu and Kohata joined them. Kohata let them celebrate for a few more minutes, giving Mato and Reiko quick hugs. Then it came time for business.

"Alright, team, good work out there, especially Mato, who decided to grace us with her presence this afternoon. However, we can't let our guard down! We need to keep going just as hard and strongly as we did today. On Monday, practice. Go hit the showers and relax for now." Kohata watched as most of them left. Satisfied, she went to have a word with the referee.

* * *

Nana watched in anger as the blonde girl was pushed around the common area in a wheelchair. It appeared she had broken something in her legs, as they were bandaged quite heavily.

This would make her defenceless if she needed to take her notebook back by force. Grey eyes watched as the attendant caring for her helped her into an armchair. She looked extremely unhappy, which satisfied Nana. Serves her right for taking her notebook. She needed an opportunity for them to be alone, however, should she need to take it back by force.

She took out a pen and wrote on her knee all the possible times she could think of. Soon, very soon, the notebook would be back in her hands.

* * *

Mato had apparently gone to the game before even going home. She was scolded by her mother for not telling her she was back first. Mato made up a story about going for a walk before she decided to take a train ride and ended up getting lost in some other town. It was only with Yomi's guidance that she got home. Mato's mother raised her eyebrows suspiciously at this story, but she seemed to buy. The only scratches on her were the ones that Yuu had bandaged after the game.

Mato wasn't exactly off the hook, however, and she wasn't allowed out for a week. Yomi received a similar punishment, though her mother was not as severe with her when she returned, apologising for not being aware of Kagari's abusive behaviour. Yomi's shoulder was carefully bandaged and treated, and as the days passed, the name Kagari Izuriha faded from her shoulder.

Things went well at school. Mato and Yomi received hero's welcomes the following Monday, Mato for leading the basketball team to victory, and Yomi for finding Mato. The pair of them spent almost every moment together, even sharing a quick kiss now and then.

All of this was well and good, unless your name was Yuu Koutari. The poor girl couldn't help but feel like she had drifted apart from the other two. They seemed to know something she didn't. Neither seemed to have bothered to tell her that they were together at last, only figuring it out after she walked in on them kissing on the train one morning.

She was happy Mato and Yomi had finally gotten together. She truly was. She smiled at them when they had a tender moment, thinking the world of Mato and Yomi for being brave enough to be together, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel alone.

It wasn't jealousy, she concluded. She wasn't like Yomi, whom she knew was jealous of her when they first met. Yuu had no desire to be involved with Mato in that way, nor was she bothered that Yomi got more affection from Mato. It was the simple fact that she seemed to be losing touch with the pair of them. It was hard to talk to them in private, due to the swarms of people surrounding the hero of the basketball team and her rescuer.

It was very discouraging. Yuu got off the train at her stop. As she began to leave, she heard Yomi whisper to Mato, "How is Black Rock Shooter?"

Yuu froze, staring at her book bag where the notebook was kept safe. There was definitely something odd going on, and Yuu was going to get to the bottom of it.

"Yuu?" Mato's voice asked, "Are you okay? The door's gonna close soon..."

"Y-yeah...perfect! See you at school tomorrow!" Yuu ran off the train just before the doors shut, and didn't stop running until she had reached her new home. Pulling open the door, she quickly slipped off her shoes and went to the kitchen table. Haruka and Sayu were having another one of their cook-offs.

"Hi Yuu!" Haruka said, not taking her eyes off a piece of haddock she was frying, "How was school?"

"Meh," Yuu shrugged, pulling out the notebook and staring at the picture of Black Rock Shooter.

"You stare at that notebook all day, Yuu," Haruka said as she glanced at her, "What is it, anyway? A story?"

Yuu shook her head, "I found it. It's really weird. There are drawings of girls in here that look a lot like girls I've seen before. And myself."

"Huh," Saya said, "That's odd. I'm sure it's just a coincid—dammit! I just overcooked it a bit." She hastily removed her cut of seafood from the pan and put it onto a plate, grabbing the sauce she had made for it and putting it off to the side. She looked over Yuu's shoulder.

"Hey!" she gestured to two girls on the opposite page, "They look like Haru and me!" Indeed they did, the girl labelled "Black Gold Saw" had the same long dark hair and figure as Saya, and the other, Geshumaru, with lighter hair and a rounder face looked like Haruka.

Haruka plated her meal and joined Saya behind Yuu. "You're right...is this another one of your jokes, Yuu?" Yuu shook her head. "Whose notebook is this?" Haruka asked.

Yuu shrugged. "The label on the first page says it belongs to 'no-name'. A lot of the writing in here is backwards, too. It's such an odd notebook. I hope its author is okay..."

Saya snorted, "Whoever wrote this nonsense is certifiably crazy. Listen to this: 'The bright morning of night killed all the stars, leaving only their orange tears to keep their existence remembered.' What does that even mean?"

Haruka looked that the characters that were so carefully formed. She thought for a moment, "It does get bright nowadays in the city. Perhaps they were writing about light pollution. The sky turns reddish orange near the city."

"Oh! It's like a riddle!" Saya said. The three girls pored over the notebook for the next few hours, eating the meal Haruka and Saya prepared, and reading the mysterious author's musings about the government, the world and human behaviour (most of which were rather dark) in addition to odd writings about specific people they saw. Despite their combined efforts, they were still unable to decipher anything referring to talking to oneself or reflections. Somewhat disappointed, Yuu shut the notebook and went upstairs.

It was still bothering her that Mato and Yomi were talking about these odd girls in the book. She tried searching to see if there was any significance to Black Rock Shooter, but there weren't any results online. Feeling confused and frustrated, she irritably changed into her nightclothes, leaving the notebook on her desk.

* * *

Yomi was over at Mato's that evening, her punishment finally ending. Mato felt troubled. Yuu was being awfully quiet lately, unusual for the tiny girl. She confided this to Yomi.

"Mato...I think I need to talk to you about something," Yomi said quietly. Mato's nervousness increased. Her first thought was that Yomi didn't really like her back. She forced herself to stay relaxed.

"W-what's the matter?" Mato's stutter gave away her nervousness.

Yomi smiled, "Don't be nervous. It's not about us. It's about me. Just relax." She gave Mato a reassuring kiss on the head. Mato blushed, feeling warm. It still felt a little strange being with Yomi. It felt too good to be real.

Her blush subsided. "Well? Tell me!" Mato was not a girl of patience.

Yomi bit her lip. "Two years ago, when Dead Master and I were together the first time...I...I wasn't taken. I chose to go."

Mato's eyes widened. "What?" she breathed, "Why would you do that? I was so worried!" Mato's mind was working hard to figure out why.

Yomi frowned, a guilty look on her face. "Well...Mato...you spent more time with Yuu than me...so...I felt...jealous...and I left...because you liked Yuu better..." Yomi paused uncomfortably.

"...I went willingly too...I'm sorry..." Mato mumbled. Yomi gave her a hug, "I'm sorry for blowing you off for Kagari. I'm worried about Yuu. I hope something doesn't happen to her."

"Does she even have an other self?" Yomi shrugged. Mato's question was answered by a quiet voice in the back of her mind.

_**"Yuu's other self is called Strength. She's relatively passive."  
**_  
Mato gave BRS a quick thank-you and turned to Yomi, "We should call to make sure she's alright, I think."

Yomi nodded in agreement. "We have been kind of busy lately. Yuu probably feels left out." She reached into her pocket to get out her phone.

* * *

Yuu's phone buzzed, awakening her. Rubbing honey-coloured eyes slowly, she squinted at the source of the noise and got herself out of bed, drowsily grabbing her phone.

"Hello?" Yuu asked sleepily, yawning.

"Yuu?" Yomi's voice came. Yuu paused for a second, her eyes resting on the notebook. Quietly opening the mysterious object, she murmured, "Speaking."

"I'm just calling to make sure you're okay. I can understand if you feel left out. I've gone through the same thing. Mato and I are so sorry! We can hang out together this weekend, just us three. Promise. Anything on your mind?" Yomi's voice sounded concerned. Yuu smiled slightly at her concern, then her eyes caught the figure on the page.

Dead Master. The Yomi girl, looking nearly the same, save for the horns. Yuu stared. Was Yomi a kind of demon? Is that why she disappeared? What about Mato? Were they monsters? Yuu berated herself slightly for being so silly and speculative. But still...she knew without a doubt that she heard "Black Rock Shooter" earlier. They knew something.

"Yuu?" Yomi asked.

Yuu gave a last look to Dead Master's image on the page. She needed answers.

"Who is Dead Master? I need to know. Right now."


	14. The dark road

**[A/N] Last we left our heroine, she had just won the semifinal game and began the early phases of a relationship with Yomi. Meanwhile, Yuu is feeling left out, with only a notebook to console her, keeping it from its owner, Nana Myounashi. In the Otherworld…or perhaps not in the Otherworld at all…something strange is happening…**

* * *

_The dark-haired woman sat on the throne, a displeased look on her face. Chariot had failed. Dead Master was still alive, though the woman could not sense her near. She was unsure if how the connection between her world and the world of constant colour worked, but she knew that Dead Master was the first to touch that world, and Black Rock Shooter the second._

_She did have some valuable things she'd been keeping close to her, though. "Bring me Matagi," she barked at a glowing suit of armour. It bowed before her and marched towards the door. A few moments later it brought back a girl with dirty clothes and matted dark hair. She looked at the woman on the throne with pleading violet eyes._

_"Where is Black Rock Shooter?" she asked the girl._

_"I-I don't know! She must have l-left!" The girl shivered, with good reason. The woman smirked at her weakness. It was a sign that her torture had worked and had successfully broken the small fighter. The girl's response intrigued her._

_"What do you mean...left...?" she asked in an icy tone._

_"She could have...d-died...and come here to Yomi...or entered the other place..." The girl squirmed in her captor's grip, but the armour just held her tighter, eliciting a pained squeak from the girl._

_"How?"_

_"I'm not sure...d-don't hurt me again! I'm sorry!"_

_"Take her away." The armour obliged, dragging the petite girl away. The woman relaxed in her chair, displeased._

**BLACK ROCK SHOOTER XIV  
The dark road.  
**  
Yomi froze. "W-what?" she stammered. Mato gave her a curious look, scooting closer.

"You heard me," Yuu's voice came, "Tell me about Dead Master. Black Rock Shooter too. What are they?"

Yomi was at a loss for words, having no idea how to express this concept to Yuu without seeming crazy. She had no idea how Yuu found out.

A dark chuckle sounded in Yomi's mind. _**"Looks like she finally caught on. About time. I always knew Strength wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer."**_

_**"Be nice,"**_was Yomi's curt reply.

"Yomi."

Yomi jumped at Yuu's voice. "Tell me."

Helpless, Yomi merely mumbled, "Yuu, I can't really explain right now. I'm sorry. I'll tell you everything when we meet up this weekend. It's just...it's difficult...and it's late." She sighed.

"Oh. Bye." Yuu hung up abruptly. Yomi gave Mato a grim look. "She knows about Dead Master and Black Rock Shooter. I don't know how, but she does."

The pigtailed girl just looked at her with her serene blue eyes. "It's okay, Yomi. She ought to know. She's never lied to me. It'd be being a bad friend to lie to her. It's not like it's bad if she knows or not."

"I suppose," Yomi said, "But I'm afraid it will freak her out or something." Yomi, in truth, was nervous. It was a subject she didn't like talking about very much, although Mato seemed to like it. She felt uncomfortable, and didn't relish the idea of trying to explain the Otherworld to somebody, let alone the monster literally living inside her mind.

Mato hugged Yomi. "It's going to be fine. Besides, now we can actually talk about it around her. I feel mean for not clueing her in."

"You're right," Yomi said quietly, "I don't want her to feel excluded."

_**"Like you were,"**_came Dead Master's unkind remark.

_**"You talk too much,"**_Yomi responded irritably.

_**"You don't talk enough."**_Yomi could hear the sneer in her voice. Irritated, she turned her attention back to Mato.

"Mhm," the dark-haired girl said, "I'll help you explain." Yomi's anxiety decreased slightly as Mato gave her a squeeze and pulled away.

Mato's mother entered, "Yomi, your mother called and said you could sleep over."

"Okay, thanks for having me, Mrs Kuroi," Yomi said politely.

The woman smiled at both of them and left the room. It was getting late. The lighted display on Yomi's phone read 12:20. No sooner had Yomi checked the time then had Mato let out a colossal yawn and leaned into Yomi, shutting her eyes.

"I'm too tired," she murmured sleepily, "BRS is already asleep. Let's get ready for bed. We can bathe in the morning. Just...let me rest..."

Yomi smiled at the cuteness of her lover, her face angelic in its sleeping state. Yomi let her rest another minute or two, then gently nudged her. "I'm going to change," she told her gently, "Can I borrow something of yours?"

Mato nodded, "The legs are gonna be short though. You're too tall. Stop groooowing..." she moaned. Yomi smiled and stood up, Mato slumping to the floor. Mato sat up and crawled over to her dresser, getting her a pair of blue button-up pajamas. Yomi gratefully took them and went into the bathroom.

_**"If you had any spine you'd let her watch,"**_Dead Master mocked. Yomi turned pink.

_**"I have class, thanks."**_

There was only a snort as Dead Master laughed, _**"You're only as classy as me."**_

_**"I hope that's a compliment. Good night, Dead Master."**_Yomi groaned in frustration. Dead Master was a bit of a chatterbox, in sharp contrast to herself. It was especially distracting during classes. Were it not for the help the demoness had given her, she would have thrown her out of her mind days ago.

She quickly stripped off her clothes and dressed herself in Mato's nightclothes. They were a bit snug, and the legs only came about three quarters of the way down her calves. They weren't especially warm, and she found herself shivering. Leaving the bathroom, she found Mato had already gotten dressed and into bed, fast asleep. She smiled at the sight and joined her, blushing slightly as Mato wrapped her arms around her waist and held her.

The green eyes closed gently, the warmth of Mato keeping their owner cozy.

* * *

The door to Kagari's bedroom opened slowly, quietly. The blonde was fast asleep in her suite on the topmost floor of the Izuriha asylum. A tall figure padded over to her bedside.

Kagari was roughly shaken awake. She screamed and gasped, but a hand was put to her mouth. The blonde squirmed and tried to get away, but she was roughly grabbed by the shoulders. Her eyes adjusted to the dark to make out a girl with long black hair, white pajamas and dark eyes, either grey or black. She'd seen this girl around before. How did she get into the topmost section? Only personnel had the card key.

"You have something of mine!" the girl's voice hissed. Kagari had no idea what was going on. Her eyes widened in terror and she broke free of the girl's grip, tumbling out of bed and unable to stand, her legs still refusing to cooperate. She crawled toward her wheelchair, but she was grabbed roughly from behind.

A pair of hands wrapped around her neck. They didn't squeeze, but Kagari knew that the threat was there. Her mouth went dry, her voice gone, every word forgotten.

"Where is my notebook?"

Kagari could only whimper in fear, unaware of any notebook or even the identity of this crazy girl. She felt the hands squeeze slightly. Not enough to suffocate her, but making it a chore to breathe. She squirmed.

"Where is it?"

Kagari shook her head, "I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Tears ran down her cheeks. Her legs ached. Kagari had never been so scared in her life. She shook like a dead leaf, her body drenched in sweat, her stomach a pit.

"Koutari said she gave it to you."

"Yuu...? W-we don't even talk m-much! Please don't kill me!" she sobbed, her struggles feeble.

"_Don't lie to me!_" she dropped Kagari to the floor. Kagari whimpered as her legs sent fresh waves of pain through her. The girl stood in front of her and unbuttoned her top. Kagari coughed.

"_Look at me!_" the girl shouted. Kagari reluctantly looked up to see the girl had removed her top. Her first thoughts was that she was going to be raped. Her second thoughts were obliterated by the sight before her. The girl's body was covered in writing. On her stomach, her sides, her collarbone, her breasts. It was too dark to read anything. It seemed the only place with no writing was her right arm. "Look at what I had to do!"

"Wh-what happened...?" Kagari stammered, shaking. This girl was a psychopath, and Kagari was going to die.

"My notebook was stolen. This was the only place I can write," she dressed and roughly grabbed Kagari again, "Give it back."

Kagari shook her head, "I don't have it! Yuu does! She lied!" Kagari sobbed.

"Lying bitch," the girl dropped her once more, "If you tell anybody, I will not hesitate to get rid of you." The girl slammed the door. Kagari sat on the floor and cried, unable to get back into bed.

* * *

Yuu sighed, disappointed. She put the phone down and got back into bed, closing her eyes.

_Deep in a world of sleep, Yuu saw mist. Footsteps came closer, but their owner was invisible in the mist. Despite this, Yuu did not feel afraid. A figure in a black hoodie and with two enormous metal arms materialised from the fog, slightly startling Yuu. Her white hair blew gently over dark skin._

_**"My name is Strength. I am you."**__  
_  
Yuu's eyes snapped open. She sat up, her head throbbing with a headache. It was still dark, though a few hours had passed. She looked at the notebook, remembering seeing a girl with the same name, Strength, the resembled her slightly. Concerned, she told herself that she'd been looking at it too long and uneasily closed her eyes.

_She found herself in a poorly lit tunnel, a sign faintly reading, "Yomi" with an arrow pointing ahead on the wall. It was roughly scratched into disintegrating wood. Another sign nearby read, "The spring gate is ahead." Yuu could hear the sound of running water nearby. She shivered. This place made her uneasy. She walked in the opposite direction of the sign that read "Yomi", only to reach another sign not far away that read, "The bottom country" with "The spring gate is ahead" nearby. No matter which way she went, she was moving towards this gate._

_She despaired, always finding a sign for this gate. She didn't want to go near it. It was frightening. A battered sign near the first sign she saw read, "The dark road". The sound of rushing water got closer, she turned around for the umpteenth time, moving back to the second sign. Suddenly, a deluge of filthy yellow water swept her down the tunnel._

Yuu screamed herself awake, her face damp. This had been the third time this week she'd had this nightmare. She sighed and rubbed her eyes, glancing at the alarm clock beside her bed displaying a too-early hour to be awake. She closed her eyes reluctantly, falling into an uneasy sleep. The notebook rested on her desk, waiting to be read again the next day.


	15. Awakening

**[A/N] Last we left our heroine, she was with her beloved Yomi, discussing how to spill the beans about the Otherworld. Meanwhile, Yuu is having odd visions and nightmares, clinging to the notebook for some reason…unknowingly being hunted by its owner.**

* * *

_Yellow eyes snapped open. She lay at the bottom of a wooden stairwell. Her neck pained her terribly. She sat up slowly, surveying her surroundings. It seemed to be a fancy house, that had fallen into a state of extreme disrepair. The stairs had holes in numerous places and were warped from rot. As the girl looked around, she saw peeling wallpaper, moth-eaten rugs and shattered windows._

_A whispering sound emanated from all around, repeating the same word over and over. Yomi._

**BLACK ROCK SHOOTER XV  
Awakening.**

Yomi's eyes opened slightly, refusing to open all the way this early. A warm mass was pressed into her back, and a pair of arms tightly wrapped around her waist. Yomi blushed slightly and smiled, turning her head slightly to glance at Mato's sleeping form. She rested there for another few minutes, then gently extricated herself from the smaller girl's grasp, eliciting a unconscious complaining noise from her. Yomi giggled and tucked Mato in, kissing her head, and ran to the bathroom to take a quick shower.

As the warm water flowed softly over her body, she hummed quietly to herself, thinking about Mato. One day, she decided with a blush, Mato and I will do this together. Her mind wandered to Yuu's question. How had she gotten this information? Was she upset? Yomi knew they had to act quickly, or Yuu could be in danger.

She turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, realising that she'd left her regular clothes in Mato's room. She quickly put on her underwear and quietly crept to Mato's room, wrapped in a towel, hoping the other girl wouldn't wake.

Of course she was awake. Both girls blushed furiously as Yomi grabbed her school clothes while attempting to stay covered. "I...um...changing...showered," Yomi babbled, then rushed out of the room, her face burning. Quickly getting dressed, she sheepishly returned to Mato's room, turning pink.

Mato hugged her, "It's okay, you're pretty. Don't be embarrassed!" She gave Yomi a little squeeze and exited for her shower. Yomi waited in Mato's room quietly, trying to think of how she would explain the Otherworld to Yuu. She couldn't think of any way to put it that didn't sound completely insane.

_**"If you give me control, I can explain it,"**_came Dead Master's voice.

The offer was tempting, but Yomi didn't trust Dead Master with her body. She politely declined the offer.

Mato came in wearing her blazer and skirt. She smiled, her hair a mess. With difficulty she tied her hair up, not used to it being wet. Yomi's hair curled as it dried, leaving her a bit frizzy on top. She excused herself to fix it, then emerged to go and eat breakfast with Mato.

At the breakfast table, a sleepy Hiro sipped a bowl of miso. "You're down late sis," he murmured, yawning, "Forget to shower?"

Mato nodded and sat down, waiting as her mother filled a bowl for her. As she turned to get a bowl for Yomi, Mato gave Yomi a quick kiss. "Just for good morning," she whispered quietly. Yomi flushed, happy.

Hiro's voice broke her bliss abruptly. "Mom!" he said urgently.

Mato's eyes widened. "Hiro, if you tell mom, I _swear _I'll—" she hissed.

"Mato just kissed Yomi! It was weird!" he said.

Mato cursed under her breath as her mother whirled around. "Is that true, Mato?" she asked. She nodded begrudgingly. "About time," she said, then put breakfast on the table for them.

"What?" Mato asked, a confused look on her face. Yomi uncomfortably ate her soup, watching them closely, an uneasy feeling in her chest.

"I've known you've had a crush on her for ages. Just surprised it took this long," she said simply, "Congratulations."

"But! But how?" Mato asked.

Her mother shrugged, "Moms just know these things. Now hurry, you'll miss your train."

Mato glanced at the clock. "Shoot! Let's get going Yomi!" Mato yanked at Yomi, the two girls leaving the table in a hurry.

* * *

Yuu dragged her feet to the station, the frightening dreams of the previous night making her jumpy. She had visited the "dark road" two more times. She felt heavy, as if there was a force pressing on her. She was going to show them that notebook. They would know what it is. She was sure.

She got on the train, sitting next to Mato. "Whoa, Yuu, you look awful! What happened?" Mato asked. Yuu didn't answer, pulling the notebook out and checking her appearance in the mirror on the inside cover. She had dark circles under her eyes, which looked slightly bloodshot. Her face was pale and sagging, and her hair a mess. It occurred to her that she had forgotten to brush it. She mutely opened the notebook open to Black Rock Shooter's picture and pointed at it.

"Explain," she said in a hoarse voice.

Mato's eyes widened and Yomi gawked at the notebook from behind her. "What is this?" Mato asked, her eyes sweeping over the backwards characters on the page.

Yuu didn't answer. Mato gently took the notebook out of her hands, and flipped through it. As soon as Mato took it, the weight felt lighter. Mato's eyes widened. "Wh-where did you get this?"

"Some girl. She dropped it."

"Yuu...you need to give this back..." Yomi and Yuu stared at Mato. The dark-haired girl sighed. "Yuu...some people have something called...other selves."

Yuu was confused, "Like a split personality?" If that was what the author of this book had, then it was certainly a good explanation for the nonsense written inside.

Yomi and Mato shook their heads. "Like another you, in another world," Yomi said, "I-I have one. So does Mato."

"Okay..." Yuu looked at the drawing of Black Rock Shooter, "Is Black Rock Shooter the other you...then...?"

"Yes!" Mato said, nodding vigorously, "Yomi's is Dead Master. Yours is called Strength."

Yuu knew it. So, was that other girl in one of her dreams...her other self trying to communicate with her?

"The other world...it's not a nice place..." Yomi said, "Other selves fight each other mostly. I think." Mato nodded.

Yuu thought about this. The other selves corresponding to other people made sense. Another world could be plausible after her dreams. Still, she had doubts. "This is real, right?" she asked.

"Yes," said Yomi, "It's unfortunately real." She sighed.

"Yuu...I have a bad feeling about that thing. Give it back to whoever you got it from..." Mato said.

"But—" Yuu protested.

Mato shook her head, "Please. There's something wrong with it."

Yuu frowned and took it away, putting it back in her bag, feeling the ominous weight descend on her again. Her mind raced as she thought about having another self, imagining Strength fighting battles in other worlds.

* * *

_Chains wrapped around her legs, bringing the fighter to her knees, then to the ground. White blood leaked out of her arms, the chains cutting into her skin. She twitched, unable to see her attacker. A girl materialised out of the shadows. Her long dark hair blew over grey eyes. Death Scythe again. She looked unwell, weak, disheveled._

_Strength burst her bonds, grabbing for her aggressor, to capture nothing but air. She whirled around to see her aggressor with a storm of chains flying directly at her face. Strength fell, firing off one shot that missed its mark. The ground cracked. There was nothing but silence as the dust cleared._

* * *

Nana dressed, pulling her clothing over marked up skin, covering the intricate characters. She had a notebook to retrieve. She stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"De-chan? Have you weakened Su?"

Her reflection replied, _"Yes, she is incapacitated. Get my notebook back. You know how much we need it."  
_  
Nana nodded at herself in the mirror and left her suite, carrying a battered purse with her that she only saved for special occasions like this one. She patted the bag, smirking to herself.

* * *

_"What is my name again?" The blonde warrior rolled out of the ruined house to discover she was in an entire ruined city. There was a sign post at the intersection, with arrows pointing in all directions. All of them read, "Yomi."_

_She wondered if her name was Yomi, but it didn't sound right. She rolled around the corner, looking for somebody, anybody._

* * *

Kagari woke up on the floor of her bedroom, sunlight flooding her room. Her head pounded and her neck was sore. Rubbing it as she sat up, the events of the previous night returned. She shivered, hoping that the girl never returned. She considered telling the attendants, but she remembered her threat. Somehow Kagari knew she would not fail to follow through.

She crawled across the floor to her wheelchair, pushing a nest of frizzy hair out of her face as she climbed into the machine. Her legs twinged painfully.

She growled in irritation. Yuu had set this crazy girl on her. All for a goddamn notebook. She clenched her fists. Yuu would regret having dome that. Kagari would make sure of it.


	16. The noose

**[A/N] Wow, so I guess it's been like…6 months since last post. So, to ameliorate, here is the conclusion to that arc! With an extra 1500 words more than usual as apologies. I actually had up to chapter 19 written but my laptop broke down and shortly after my phone broke, so I've lost all the material up to that point apart from a few excerpts I've sent around. Rewrites on the way! Now, last we left our heroines, Yuu had been suffering from odd dreams. Meanwhile, Nana Myounashi seems hellbent on getting her notebook.**

08:31:12 JST

Nana Myounashi entered the clean hallways of the high school, smirking to herself. She looked smugly at her purse, her special trick up her sleeve almost singing to her deep within. It'd been a special gift from her reflection, but it was only now that she finally got to try it out on someone. That someone would be that no-good, lying, thieving bitch Yuu Koutari. Her footsteps made clacking sounds on the linoleum. She couldn't wait to retrieve her notebook. Come 3:15, Koutari would receive what she so richly deserved.

**BLACK ROCK SHOOTER XVI: The noose.**

73:42:324:78:B OST

_Strength looked upon her captor with loathing as she struggled against the chains that bound her to the ground. Pale blood leaked out of lacerations cut deeply into her from the tight chains. Her dark-haired adversary revealed a faint smile of small and perfect teeth. The sky above, normally a light steel grey, seemed to be darkening, changing slowly but perceptibly to a rusty orange. Strength knew that Death Scythe's defeat was imperative, and that failure to do so could have catastrophic results. The chains rattled as she continued to struggle._

09:20:17 JST

Saya was busily scribbling notes in her English class. The class was reading some piece by some old American guy named Melville or something of the sort, and she frankly was not getting it. The somewhat antiquated English seemed far too difficult for her, and indeed most of the class seemed to be struggling as well. She vaguely knew the protagonist had embarked on a whaling journey with a captain with revenge on the brain (against an _albino whale_ no less), but keeping the minor characters straight and sifting through all the nautical and cetological jargon was becoming quite a difficult task, having to look up several words per page and derailing any hopes of finding a decent reading pace.

Her phone buzzed quietly. Pushing her long, dark hair out of her face, she stealthily placed the device on her thigh and partially covered it with her skirt, glancing at the screen quickly.

_Hey, do want to surprise Yuu and go to her team's practice? It'd be a great way to show our support for Yuu and her friends. Plus…we could maybe skip out on history to get there a little early._

That was enough motivation for Saya; she quickly texted back an emphatic yes, then effortlessly stowed her phone in her bag, resuming her frantic note taking on the bewildering array of nautical terms on the board.

65464:6465:087:096:ii:86 YST

_ The blonde warrior continued her search for answers. Roaming the desolate streets, past the burnt out structures of suburban homes, she racked her brains trying to remember who she was. After she passed the fifteenth sign for Yomi, she began to despair of all hope of finding any sort of clues. She turned the corner to see a dark haired young woman leaning against a cracked stone wall. _

_ She had long dark hair, and a pair of green spectacles. She seemed to be wearing a dark coloured hoodie, but nothing else underneath it. A thin greenish cord protruded from her pocket, connecting to earbuds, one in her right ear and the other dangling uselessly from her pocket. Her eyes were a bright lime green. She had a bored expression on her face._

_ "Hello…?" she tried, doubting that she even spoke the same language._

_ "Oh, look, a new arrival," she sneered, looking the golden fighter up and down, "What do you want?"_

_ "Who am I?" she asked, a worried and desperate look spreading across her face. She shrank back slightly as the other girl rolled her eyes._

_ "Don't know, don't care," she replied dismissively, "Next I bet you'll ask where you are."_

_ She nodded, her blonde curls bouncing slightly._

_ "There's a question I can answer," the dark haired girl answered with a somewhat resentful tone. She pushed her glasses up with her hands and took out her earbud, frowning heavily as she stowed it in her pocket. "You're dead."_

_ The blonde froze. "Wh-what?" she asked in a quavering voice._

_ "Oh yeah, whenever a warrior dies they get sent down here. This is the land of Yomi, you see. The yellow springs, the bottom country, the dark office, et cetera, et cetera. You can't remember anything unless you know your name, you see. I know mine. You can find records at the palace…" The girl gestured towards a blurry mass far in the distance, just visible in the sky, which was a yellowish orange colour. The entire town seemed to be bathed in the same colour. "…but not many come back." She laughed bitterly, "Enjoy your stay, blondie. You're going to be here for a long time."_

10:34:13 JST

"Gosh, I hate math," Mato scribbled in the margins of her notebook. She squinted at the blackboard where there were three equations written, each of which had three variables. She groaned quietly. She knew she was going to need help with this later this week. Math was Yomi's best subj—

A piece of paper landed on her desk. The teacher whirled around to face the class. "Did I see someone throw something?" The room was silent. Mato quickly swept the crumpled ball into her lap. "No…? Okay then…" The lecture continued as she began to quickly write Xs and Ys all over the space below the equation set. She picked up the paper ball and quietly unrolled it.

"Hey…Yuu still has that notebook…do you think we should take it away from her for now? She looks sick…

Love, Yomi."

Mato looked up to see Yomi giving a very concerned look at Yuu, who sat one seat over and one seat up from her. Yomi glanced quickly at Mato. Mato gave her a nod and thumbs up, then watched what Yomi did next.

"Sensei, can I go to the bathroom please?" Yomi asked.

"Yes, yes, just go." She returned to lecturing. Yomi got up and as she passed Yuu's desk, knocked her textbook book off with her hip, along with her math notebook.

"Oh, sorry, Yuu! Let me get that!" Yomi bent down and grabbed the textbook. Mato squinted to see that she had slipped the notebook out of Yuu's bag and pushed it with her foot under Matagi's desk, just behind Yuu's. Smiling, Mato waited as for her to come back. A few minutes later, Yomi returned, knocking her own book off her desk. Cursing somewhat more audibly than she usually would, Yomi reached down, grabbed the notebook under Matagi's desk, and slipped it into the textbook, then dropped the notebook in her backpack.

Mato smiled broadly at her girlfriend's handiwork, then scribbled a note on the back of the previous note and tossed it over.

"I swear someone's throwing things…" the teacher muttered, glancing behind her.

Yomi blushed brightly as she read the note. Mato smirked.

"I love you.

PS Help me I'm lost."

76:89:678:35:B

_ Death Scythe looked at her captured prey struggling, glancing up at the darkening sky. It was almost time, yes. But not yet. She had to wait until the exact right time to put the blade of her scythe through the white haired girl's body. _

_ Ping!_

_ The chains around Strength burst. Angrily growling, Death Scythe immediately rushed to correct this, throwing chains around Strength. A giant iron fist collided with her stomach. Black blood spewing out of her mouth, Death Scythe skidded across the floor. Strength charged at her, grabbing her with her Ogre Arms and tossing her onto the ground hard enough to leave a crater. Struggling to stand, Death Scythe wiped the blood from her lips and spat at Strength, no longer smiling. Strength jumped in the air, bringing both fists down. Quickly rolling out of the way, Death Scythe dodged the attack and wrapped chains around Strength's legs._

_ Strength growled and sprung forward. Death Scythe calmly flicked her wrist to send chains towards Strength's most vulnerable spot. A gagging noise cut off Strength's furious battle cry. Chains slowly tightened around her neck. Death Scythe laughed and chained Strength's arms to the floor. Slowly but surely the chains began to tighten._

12:37:29 JST

"Mato! Yomi!" Yuu shouted, running out into the courtyard where the pair was having lunch. She looked close to tears. "The notebook…it's gone!" Her tired eyes looked desperately back and forth between the two of them. Yomi and Mato exchanged guilty looks.

"I'm…sure it will show up somewhere, Yuu. Besides, it's not like it was yours to keep in the first place. Maybe its owner took it back," Yomi shrugged at her.

Mato shifted uneasily and glanced at her own bag. She had put it there for safekeeping. Not to mention Black Rock Shooter might be able to make sense of it. The temptation to give it back was strong however, after seeing the desperation in Yuu's eyes. It really wasn't fair of her to keep knowledge of the Other World from her; the poor girl had just found out about it this morning and was likely still trying to make sense of it all. Mato's hand moved towards her bag.

**_No Mato!_**, BRS' voice sounded in her head, **_You are doing her a favour, I assure you. That notebook has some kind of curse or the like on it._**

Frowning, Mato retracted her hand and rested it on Yomi's instead. Yuu stared at them, "That thing has some secret to it! I'm sure it has something to do with your Other World! I'm so close to figuring it out—"

"Look, Yuu, don't worry about it. Like Mato said, that notebook had something very bad in it. Look at yourself, Yuu, you look ill!" Yomi gestured to Yuu.

"But…! I…I have to find it, Yomi, I'm sorry!" she rushed off. Yomi shook her head, "I feel bad," she said, "…but…it's for her own good."

"I'm sure she'll get over it…" Mato replied, not sounding so sure.

14:47:28 JST

Haruka and Saya quickly snuck off campus and headed home to Haruka's home, speedily changing into more casual clothing. They couldn't be spotted in their uniforms during school hours, could they? They ran off to the train station and hopped a train.

"I wonder if Yuu's okay," Saya said, "She looked really tired yesterday."

Haruka shrugged and played with her skirt worriedly, "I'm honestly not sure…after you leave she goes upstairs and stays there. I thought she was really making progress with adjusting but…"

Saya sighed in irritation, "Look, if she doesn't want to adjust, that's her problem."

Haruka looked at her in shock, her mouth slightly open, "How could you say something like that! ? That's my sister you're talking about!"

"Look, all I'm saying is that she's been living with you and your dad for over a year now and except for that one week or so, she's been pretty much acting like a child. We get it, she misses her parents. But she doesn't have to take it out on you and your dad!" Saya retorted irritably. Haruka went quiet for a few minutes. Saya had a point.

"I still think we need to try," Haruka said finally.

"I'm telling you, it's a waste of time. Let her sort out her problems herself." Saya huffed and looked away. The rest of the train ride was silent.

78:35:589:21:B

_The chains sharply tightened around Strength's neck, beginning a boa-constrictor like movement. Death Scythe smirked and glanced up at the sky, now deep rust brown. She raised her scythe and watched contently as Strength gagged and grunted as she clawed at the noose around her throat._

15:11:12 JST

Mato panted as she stepped off the court. Practice was difficult, as her old taskmaster pushed the team extra-hard today. The finals were next week, after all. She noticed that Yuu's sister and friend were cheering from the stands. What were they doing here? Mato mentally shrugged and wiped her brow with a towel. Kohata slapped her on the back, knocking what little breath she had left out of her.

"Good job, Ace! Keep up the good work!" She shot her a huge grin before proceeding to talk to Matagi about a few defensive errors she had made earlier. Sighing, she looked over at Yuu, who wasn't acting her usual self at all, not speaking to any of the players, only looking despondently through the management binder and making some notes. Mato needed to set her straight. Approaching the small girl, she confronted her.

"Yuu, give up on the notebook! It wasn't yours! We're practicing now and the team needs your input! Quit…moping…and get your head in the game!" Mato told her.

"You don't get it Mato…" Yuu replied morosely.

"No, Yuu, _you_ don't get it! We need you and you're pouting over a dumb notebook!" Mato protested, anger rising slightly.

Yuu looked taken aback, "That isn't just some notebook, Mato! You just told me this morning about some whole other parallel dimension that Yomi and you have been keeping from me _for years_ and now I have something that can help me learn about it…or had something rather…sorry that I was digging in on your little secret," she shot Mato a resentful look and stormed off towards the locker room. Shaking her head, the dark-haired girl pursued her.

99:58:879:23:B

_Strength began to kick her legs as she gasped for oxygen. Death Scythe smirked and swung forward with her scythe, slashing open the white haired girl's abdomen. White blood ran down her front, spraying onto Death Scythe's blazer. She slashed again, creating an deep x-shaped gash on Strength's stomach. The noose tightened faster. _

15:12:54 JST

"What's going on?" Haruka whispered to Saya, gesturing to the door that Yuu and Mato had disappeared behind. Saya shook her head and shrugged, "I'm sure they'll work it out. Mato is very caring and knows Yuu well.

"Still…" Haruka said uneasily, "Shouldn't we make sure they're okay?"

"No, Yuu can handle herself. You can't keep intervening on her behalf." Saya huffed, "Look, I want to see her improve too, but…we aren't getting anywhere. I'm out. You should join me." Saya gave Haruka a threatening glare.

Haruka stared at Saya. Had she really given up on Yuu. She had noticed a growing distance between the two since Yomi had been returned. Just yesterday the two had gotten in a fight over the usual cooking competition Saya and she did, with Yuu as judge. Yuu had simply come home that day and tried to head straight upstairs, but Saya tried to rope her into the game. Perhaps Saya was still upset…?

"I can't believe you're just quitting on her..." Haruka said.

"I'm not quitting, I—"

"Yes, you are! You always quit! This is why you always lose to me! You give up when you think it'd be too hard to win! And I'm—"

"EXCUSE ME! ?" Saya retorted, "I may be many things, Haru, but I'm no quitter! Yuu can't be pulled into being someone she isn't by us—"

"Oh, so you forcing her to participate yesterday was okay, though?"

The two girls continued to bicker with each other, neither of them noticing the dark haired girl with a small purse slip into the locker room.

15:13:14 JST

The door of the locker room opened, surprising the two arguing girls with the arrival of a dark-haired girl wearing a dark blazer and skirt. She smiled. "Give me my notebook back!" she called to them. Mato blanched. "Come on, Koutari-chan! I know you have it!" she told them in a singsong voice.

Yuu shook her head, "N-no…I…don't…I…"

The dark-haired girl rushed over to Yuu and grabbed her by her collar. "Don't you _dare_ lie to me, you filth! Give it to me!" She shook the diminutive girl roughly.

"I…I…!" Tears ran down Yuu's face. Mato sprang into action and charged at the girl, grabbing her and pulling her away from Yuu. The girl stumbled backwards a bit, but regained her balance and smirked at Mato. She was at least a head taller than Mato, even taller than Yomi. She leaned over towards her.

"Cute. I see we're going to do this the hard way. Very well!" she reached into her small black purse and pulled out a brightly coloured gun, pointing it at Yuu's chest. Yuu gasped in fear. "I'm going to count to three! If I don't have my notebook in my hands at three, Koutari takes it in the chest!" She laughed.

Mato froze and moved towards her locker, pulling out her bag swiftly. She was interrupted by Black Rock Shooter. **"****_Mato, you can't give that notebook to her. It's too dangerous as it is, and especially in the hands of the someone who created it. I will help you fight back!"_**

Mato ran at the girl, feeling the power of Black Rock Shooter flowing through her as their movements and thoughts synced up. She swung her fist at the girl and—

The girl caught her fist in midswing. "Ah…!" Mato gasped. The girl had an incredibly strong grip, making Mato tear up in pain. She struggled to free her fist. "Always going for the brute force technique…Black Rock Shooter…" she laughed and pointed the gun at Mato. Mato's eyes widened. How did this girl know…? Her thoughts were abruptly cut off by the pain of the girl twisting her wrist and throwing to the floor. "Good night!" There was a sharp crack and Mato felt a shooting pain in her chest. She writhed on the ground, her muscles contracting uncontrollably. It was a Taser of some sorts. Tears came to her eyes as she began to scream, the pain increasing. This was no ordinary Taser. Her vision blurred and there was a bluish tint to everything. She could barely make out Yuu charging at the dark haired girl.

The shocks decreased in frequency slowly. Still incapacitated, Mato looked up at the struggling pair, then noticed a flash of silver fly out of the girl's black bag. It was a knife. It landed on the floor in front of Mato. Yuu managed to get in a few good punches in the confusion, but the black haired girl slammed her against the lockers and mercilessly began punching her in the stomach. Mato grabbed the knife and began to crawl slowly towards them, planning to slice at the girl's ankles. Her blood rushed in her ears. The left side of her body was completely numb, and her pace was slow. Breathing heavily, she pulled herself slowly closer when the girl stepped on her hand. Whimpering, Mato involuntarily released the knife. The girl quickly snatched up the knife, abandoning the reeling Yuu for a moment.

Yuu kicked her from behind, knocking her to the floor, readying herself to tackle her. "Yuu…she has a—!" Mato called helplessly from the floor, but it was too late. Yuu tackled the taller girl, then shrieked in pain. The other girl rolled out from under her and held out a knife dripping with blood. A blossom of red appeared on Yuu's chest.

00:00:000:00:Y OST

_Death Scythe tightened the noose in a whiplike motion, completely cutting off Strength's air supply and lifting her into the air. She kicked her legs, swinging back and forth and making choking sounds before falling silent. Blood leaked from her stomach. Death Scythe laughed gleefully and stabbed her all the way through with the point of her weapon, causing Strength to cough up blood. Strength stopped moving, going limp. She had expired at last. Her job done, Death Scythe lowered her to the ground, looking into her dead amber eyes before walking away from the scene, a large puddle of white blood forming underneath the corpse._

15:15:00 JST

The girl smirked and watched as Yuu collapsed onto the floor, quickly falling unconscious. Mato could only gaze in horror, gasping out Yuu's named over and over like a broken record. Her muscles were still mostly unresponsive and numb. The girl bent down on the ground and grabbed Mato's face between her fingers. "Nobody messes with Nana Myounashi," she spat on Mato's head, then walked towards Mato's bag and cut it open with the still-dripping knife. She sifted for a moment before drawing out the notebook. "Ah, yes…" She kissed it.

"Thanks, friends!" she called in a cheery voice, then turned to leave the room, putting the gun and the knife away, "Won't be seeing you." The locker room door slammed shut.


End file.
